As evidence that the crackdown on piracy has been successful, Somali pirates have resorted to a new form of piracy. They are now going ashore and kidnapping anyone they feel they can extract a ransom on, such as businessmen, doctors, journalists, missionaries, and aid workers.
Last fall, pirates kidnapped a female American aid worker and a male Danish aid worker. A few days ago, U.S. President Obama gave the go ahead to a team of Navy Seals to go in and rescue them. It was the same SEAL team that killed Osama bin Laden last May. The end result for this Somali Hostage Rescue operation was nine dead kidnappers and two freed hostages who are now safely back home. The rescue was deemed necessary because one of the aid workers was seriously ill and the other in need of medication, according to government intel.
Unfortunately, several hostages are still being held in Somalia, including a British tourist, an American journalist, and two Spanish doctors (who were grabbed from neighboring Kenya). This latest trend begs the question, will piracy ever end or just evolve?
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