The Pirates of Somalia_ Inside Their Hidden World - Jay Bahadur [120]
OCTOBER 1993: US efforts to arrest warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid lead to the infamous “Black Hawk Down” incident, in which eighteen US Army Rangers are killed by Somali militants.
MARCH 1995: The last UN peacekeeping forces withdraw from Somalia, leaving the country in a state of protracted civil conflict.
MAY 5, 1998: A pan-clan conference held in Garowe proclaims the creation of Puntland State of Somalia. Garowe is chosen as the region’s capital.
NOVEMBER 1999: Hart Security, a British private security firm, signs a contract to provide coast guard services in Puntland. The company operates there until 2002, when it is replaced by the Somali-Canadian Coast Guard (SomCan).
APRIL–MAY 2000: The Transitional National Government (TNG) is formed at the Somali National Peace Conference, held in Djibouti.
NOVEMBER 2001: The election of Jama Ali Jama to the Puntland presidency sparks a brief civil conflict when Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed refuses to step down. Six months later, Yusuf emerges victorious.
MAY 2002: The Somali-Canadian Coast Guard (SomCan), owned by a group of Toronto-based Somali businessmen, assumes coast guard duties in Puntland. The government dismisses the company in March 2005 after SomCan marines hijack a Thai fishing boat.
OCTOBER 10, 2004: The TNG is reconstituted as the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), and Abdullahi Yusuf is elected president. Shortly thereafter, General Mohamud Muse Hersi takes over the Puntland presidency.
DECEMBER 26, 2004: The Indian Ocean tsunami, one of the worst natural disasters in recorded history, strikes the eastern coast of Somalia, causing devastation in Eyl and other waterside towns. Dozens of submerged toxic waste canisters wash ashore, revealing the extent of illegal dumping in Somali waters.
JUNE 27, 2005: The World Food Programme transport MV Semlow is hijacked by pirates under the command of Mohamed Abdi Hassan “Afweyne.” Attacks on food aid transports continue until the French navy begins escorting shipments two years later.
JUNE 2006: The Islamic Courts Union (ICU), a grassroots religious movement, seizes power in Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia. The ICU takes control of Harardheere and Hobyo, and briefly manages to suppress piracy.
DECEMBER 2006: US-backed Ethiopian forces invade Somalia, overthrowing the ICU and forcing its moderates to flee to Eritrea and Djibouti. Hardline ICU militias split off to form Al-Shabaab, or “The Youth,” and undertake a violent insurgency against the occupying forces.
OCTOBER 28, 2007: A pirate attack group led by Abdullahi Abshir Boyah hijacks the MV Golden Nori, a Japanese chemical tanker, fifteen kilometres off the Somali coast.
APRIL 2008: President Hersi ceases to pay his Puntland security forces. Following the end of the summer monsoon season in August, piracy explodes.
JULY 2008: A rejuvenated SomCan enters into a one-year contract with the administration of President Hersi to resume its coast guard duties. The following year, President Farole declines to extend its contract.
SEPTEMBER 25, 2008: Eyl- and Harardheere-based pirates jointly capture the MV Faina, a Ukrainian vessel transporting tanks intended for the government of South Sudan. After a four-month standoff, the pirates receive a then-unprecedented ransom of $3.2 million.
OCTOBER 2008: NATO announces plans for a seven-warship counter-piracy task force in Somali waters. In the following months, the European Union and the United States deploy their own fleets, EU Naval Force Somalia (NAVFOR) and Combined Task Force 151 (CTF-151).
NOVEMBER 15, 2008: Somali pirates associated with Afweyne hijack the MV Sirius Star, a Saudi supertanker carrying $100 million in crude oil. The attack occurs almost eight hundred kilometres south of Somalia, the farthest Somali pirates have ventured to date.
DECEMBER 2008: Kenya signs a memorandum of understanding with the United Kingdom to prosecute suspected pirates captured on the high seas. Similar deals follow with the EU and the United States.
JANUARY 2009: Ethiopian troops withdraw from Somalia, and Al-Shabaab