Bossaso police boss raids pirate site, arrests 5 suspects

[sheekh-Farax-zero]

BOSSASO, Somalia June 12 - A senior police commander in Somalia's semiautonomous region of Puntland personally led a Friday police raid on a pirate site near the Gulf of Aden port of Bossaso, Radio Garowe reports.

Col. Osman Hassan "Afdalow," police boss in Bari region where Bossaso is located, told Radio Garowe that the police arrested five pirate suspects, seized five AK-47 assault rifles, one rocket launcher and one speedboat.

"They [suspects] were preparing to go to sea," Col. Afdalow said, adding that the pirate suspects were apprehended near the coast in the outskirts of Bossaso.

The group of suspects will be brought in front of a Puntland court to face charges of piracy, the commander added.

Puntland police units have cracked down on criminality in recent months, as the government has ensured regular salary payments to all employees, including members of the security forces.

Pirate attacks off the Somali coast spiked in 2008 and international warships deployed off the coast have actively targeted suspected pirates by killing and jailing them in recent months.

Currently, Somali pirates are holding more than 200 foreigners hostage as they await ransom payments.

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