1 week Ago
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.
Generate Key Takeaways Two Somali fishermen wearing big scarves over their heads to hide their faces glance around furtively as they walk into the room for a secret meeting to tell me why they have recently decided to become gun-wielding pirates - in search of million-dollar ransoms. "You are free to record - we accept," one tells me as they sit down nervously for the interview that has taken months to set up in the small coastal town of Eyl. This behaviour is in stark contrast to the bravado of the pirates who used to strut around this charming, ancient port nestled between arid mountains on Somalia's Indian Ocean coast.
Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It has always been considered strategic, not only because of its location but also because it has a fresh-water source - and during the piracy boom of the early to mid-2000s the pirates made it their base. It became known as "Harunta Burcadda" - the Pirate Capital. From here, they targeted the container ships that transport goods around the world and even some oil tankers, forcing shipping companies to change their routes.
The regional authorities held no sway - and the local police force was too scared to enter the town. Pirates kept their hijacked ships anchored offshore and businesses in the town and region profited from ransom payments. Between 2005 and 2012 the World Bank estimates pirate groups earned between $339m (£267m) and $413m.
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Sahnun Ahmed - BBC News, Eyl.
