Copenhagen – AFP
The Danish Armed Forces said on Thursday that four pirates had been killed in a shootout with Danish patrols in the Gulf of Guinea since early November.
“No Danish soldier was injured, but five pirates were wounded,” he said in a statement. Four of them were killed and others were injured.
The incident took place on November 24 when the warship “Espern Senari” tried to capture a pirate boat in southern Nigeria and opened fire on Danish soldiers.
“Danish forces fired warning bombs according to their authority, and then the pirates began firing directly at the Danish soldiers,” the statement said. As a result, the Danish players were forced to respond defensively.
While traveling in the region, the Danish Prime Minister canceled a scheduled warship visit on Thursday afternoon, considering that the intervention of the troops “may have made it possible to avoid a determined pirate attack on ships in the area.”
Esperin Senari “has made a significant security contribution to the Gulf of Guinea,” Med Frederickson said.
Following the shooting, the pirate boat sank and the eight pirates on board were taken aboard a Danish ship where the seriously injured man is being treated.
The Gulf of Guinea, with a length of more than 5,700 km from Senegal to Angola, has recorded attacks on 195 ships by 2020 alone.
In the same year, 130 hijackings of 135 sailors worldwide took place in the region, according to a recent report by the International Maritime Bureau.
The warship, which is equipped with a helicopter carrying 175 sailors, is “playing a key role in protecting Danish and other merchant ships in the region,” Danish Defense Minister Train Bramsen told local news agency Ritza.