Somali pirate killed by private guards

A private security guards aboard a Spanish fishing boat off the coast of Somalia killed a Somali pirate after pirates attacked their vessel, a regional maritime official confirmed on Wednesday.

East Africa's Coordinator of Seafarers Assistance Program (SAP) Andrew Mwangura said the incident took place on the Indian Ocean waters on Tuesday.

"The private security guards killed one Somali pirates along the Indian Ocean waters. I have not established the name of the Spanish fishing boat which was under attack by Somali pirates," Mwangura told Xinhua by telephone from Mombasa. The incident is the first of its kind to be reported by security guards which came amid surge in piracy incidents along the coast of the Horn of Africa nation.

Piracy involving small boats and cargo vessels has been a major problem in the seas of Somalia, growing each year over the past decade and targeting at ships traveling through pirate-infested waters in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. The Horn of Africa nation's coastline is considered one of the world's most dangerous stretches of water because of piracy.

Somalia has been plagued by factional fighting and has not had a functioning central administration since 1991.

Source: Xinhua