Somali pirates and Islam: natural allies?

Last year, we saw one major wave of Somali pirate attacks on tankers and other ships traversing the region.  In December, analysts were warning that, in its weakened state, Somalia may become a new safe haven for militant jihadis as well as pirates and other international criminals.

Around that same time, in a particularly ironic move the Somali Islamist group Al-Shabab  “vowed” to hunt down and attack the pirates who hijacked a Muslim-owned Saudi oil tanker.

However, analysts have posited the idea that in fact the al-Shabaab extremists are in collusion with the pirates and have sought to take a share of any ransom gained. 

Now, UPI writer Claude Salhani suggests that Somali pirates are natural allies of radical Islam:

U.S. Navy warships supported by helicopter gunships tracked four Somali pirates and their American captive in the Horn of Africa throughout the weekend as American negotiators tried to obtain the release of the hostage.

Local militias, many of them adherents of strict Islamist theology, offer a fertile breeding ground to al-Qaida and its affiliates. If and when the day Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida begin to feel the pressure in their current safe haven, the region around the Horn of Africa will look very enticing.

Concerns over Chinese ASB missiles targeting U.S. carriers

U.S. Naval Institute (via Military.com) reports:

With tensions already rising due to the Chinese navy becoming more aggressive in asserting its territorial claims in the South China Sea, the U.S. Navy seems to have yet another reason to be deeply concerned.

After years of conjecture, details have begun to emerge of a “kill weapon” developed by the Chinese to target and destroy U.S. aircraft carriers.

First posted on a Chinese blog viewed as credible by military analysts and then translated by the naval affairs blog Information Dissemination, a recent report provides a description of an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) that can strike carriers and other U.S. vessels at a range of 2000km.

The range of the modified Dong Feng 21 missile is significant in that it covers the areas that are likely hot zones for future confrontations between U.S. and Chinese surface forces.

While details of this weapon have been widely discussed for some time, certain information has recently been relayed indicating that the “weapon system is operational.”

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