Reply With QuoteTook long enough to figure out they needed to expand Ops against land targets.
Somalia pirates: EU approves attacks on land bases
The European Union has agreed to expand its mission against Somali pirates, by allowing military forces to attack land targets as well as those at sea.
In a two-year extension of its mission, EU defence ministers agreed warships could target boats and fuel dumps.
The BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner says the move is a significant step-up in operations, but one that also risks escalation.
Up to 10 EU naval ships are currently on patrol off the Horn of Africa.
They have policed shipping routes and protected humanitarian aid since 2008. The extension means they will stay until at least December 2014.
An EU official said the new mandate would allow warships or helicopters to fire at fuel barrels, boats, trucks or other equipment on beaches, according to Agence France-Presse.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo told reporters: "The EU plan is to allow attacks on land installations when ships are assaulted at sea," adding that "much care" would be taken to avoid civilian deaths.
A two-decade war has wrecked Somalia, leaving it without a proper government.
'Robust action'The transitional government only controls the capital Mogadishu, while al-Shabab militants, who recently joined with al-Qaeda, hold large swathes of territory.
The EU says the main tasks of the mission are the protection of vessels of the World Food Programme delivering food aid to displaced people in Somalia, and the fight against piracy off the Somali coast.
"Today's important decision extends [Operation] Atalanta's mandate for two more years and allows it to take more robust action on the Somali coast," the EU's foreign policy head Catherine Ashton said in a statement.
The statement said the EU would be working with Somalia's transitional federal government and other Somali organisations to support their fight against piracy from the coastal area.
Brussels also said the Somali government had told the UN secretary general that it accepted its new offer of collaboration.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17487767
Took long enough to figure out they needed to expand Ops against land targets.
As our (Dutch) MoD said; just interdicting them at sea isn't enough, we need to go after their supply chain. Take away their ability to go to sea. He's asking parliament for the use of more Marines.
About time!
Good call from EU countries!
more like late call from the beaurocratic monstrosity that is the EU. Most of the contributing countries have already authorised their forces to strike land targets.Originally Posted by BogT
x10,000................
Good call!!! I'd say is about time, now let the fun begin.
hehehe....EU goin' all thug-life on the pirates
we be bangin' yo!
Give em a volly :>
The pirates of the Mediterranean didn't stop until the navies got all medieval on their home ports.'
Hard to enjoy the spoils of being a pirate if your head is on a pike over the gates (metaphorically)
The thing is, what kind of realistic rules of engagement can they have to make this worth wile.
I would say old school Naval Gunfire Support for five-ten miles offshore, invite every ship with a 5-inch gun to come play. Small ANGLICO team on a helicopter or UAV for gunfire direction and correction.....but of course this will never go over today.
So what then? small diameter bombs dropped from UAV's on surgically cleared targets that have to be green-lighted by 25 different people on 4 continents before the pickle is dropped?
Please not poorly supported spec ops guys on the ground with the bare minimum of support....this is Somalia....
I think Somalia would have some opinions on this..
Yes, let's kill everybody but the pirates....
Its taken longer enough for them to figure this out. But hopefully this will help stop it.
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