Pirates running wild

Piracy as a jihadist activity has a pedigree at least as old as the Barbary conflicts with Europe and the new United States, and the Islamic slave raiding pirates vividly described in Giles Milton's book White Gold. "Somali pirates seize 8 ships," from [1] News24.com, August 25 (thanks to Jeffrey Imm):

Nairobi - Around eight ships have been seized by pirates off the lawless Somali coast with gunfire being reported during one of the hijackings, an official said on Monday.

"Around eight ships have been seized, but we believe there were no fatalities," Andrew Mwangura, the head of the Kenya-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

"There was a shoot-out at one of the ships, but it was a quarrel between the gunmen," he continued. "We understand there were no injuries."

Earlier reports had suggested three sailors had been killed.

Mwangura said it was too early to give full details on all of the seized craft, but said that they were a mix of tankers and cargo ships.

Piracy off Somalia's lawless coast has surged in the last three months.

A total of four ships - from Germany, Japan, Iran and Malaysia - were seized last week alone....

Pirates, armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons, use speedboats to pursue their targets....