From The Danger Room:Somalia was already bad news, with a raging Islamic insurgency, brutal counterinsurgents, and a booming market for kidnapping and thievery. But now, things there may be about to get a whole lot worse. Somali pirates have seized a Ukrainian ship, carrying rocket-propelled grenades, anti-aircraft guns and at least 30 T-72 tanks. "They really hit the jackpot this time," an unnamed regional arms expert tells the Times of London.
No one knows, definitively, where the shipment of T-72 tanks was supposed to go. Russia's ITAR-TASS news agency says it was bound for Kenya, which received 77 of the Ukrainian tanks last year. Andrew Mwangura, of the Mombasa, Kenya-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme, seems less sure. He tells Reuters, "In the past, military equipment has come through Mombasa on its way to south Sudan, but we have not seen any south Sudanese officials at the port waiting. And anyway, there is an arms embargo for Sudan." T-72 tanks have also been shipped to the Iraqi army, with American assistance.
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My Comment: Considering its cargo .... I would sink the ship. But considering hostages, other flags of convenience, maritime law, insurance, etc. .... the ransom is going to be steep.
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