EU Anti-Piracy Mission Grows More Teeth

EU anti-piracy forces launched their first attack on pirates on mainland Somali on May 15 as helicopter gunships destroyed boats, weapons and fuel. Britain’s Telegraph newspaper reports that five small attack boats were “rendered inoperable” and that a weapons store and several drums of diesel were also hit.

The European Union authorized its forces to attack pirates on land in March, but this is the first time it has happened. EU forces do not set foot on land, rather they are “merely an extension of the disruption actions carried out against pirate ships at sea,” according to the operation commander of the EU Naval Force, Rear Adm. Duncan Potts.

A spokesman for the EU Naval Force said that “this morning’s mission is a clear demonstration that we intend to make life as difficult as we can for them on land as well as at sea.”

The Telegraph quotes an anonymous Navy source implying that these kind of attacks will increase. “The time is now right to step up the attacks on the infrastructure to put the pirates considerably on the back foot,” it quotes him as saying. “However, the Somalis will certainly be better prepared next time round and are likely to defend their bases with significant anti-aircraft assets now they know that the ante has been upped. This will inevitably lead to bloodshed and escalation.”

It will indeed escalate. The EU is showing it has the will to at least begin to go after the cause of the problem, on land, rather than just chasing ships at sea. Historically, the EU has been relatively hesitant to use military power. Expect that to change. Watch for the European Union to grow more teeth in fighting piracy and radical Islam in the area.