Friday, October 26, 2012

AMISOM Troops Arrest 72 Somalians

AMISOM troops arrest 72 Somali militants

Friday, October 26, 2012

KIGALI, Rwanda, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Kenyan AMISOM troops have arrested 72 militants in Somalia.

The Kenyan army forces attached to the United Nations' backed African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia arrested the al-Shabaab militants in the port city of Kismayo, formerly a stronghold of Somali pirates that terrorized shipping in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Gulf off the Somali cost.

Kenya Defense Forces spokesman Col. Cyrus Oguna said, "A house-to-house search... led to the arrest of 72 suspected militants and a recovery of an assortment of weapons," The New Times reported Thursday.

The AMISOM offensive has largely nullified the threat of piracy emanating from Somalia, which has bedeviled shipping along the east African coastline for several years.

Given International Maritime Organization regulations, merchantmen were unable to carry firearms and were vulnerable to the heavily armed pirates until IMO regulations were modified to allow merchantmen to carry hired armed personnel, which has led to a dramatic drop in assaults.

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