EU force: Suspected Somali pirates exchange fire with Norwegian navy off African coast

Suspected Somali pirates clash with Norwegian navy

MOGADISHU, Somalia — The European Union’s anti-piracy force says a Norwegian warship has clashed with suspected Somali pirates.

A statement from the force says a team from Norwegian warship HNOMS Fridjof Nansen on Sunday went to talk to the crew of four fishing boats near Alula, a northeastern Somali coastal village known for piracy.

The crew on the first three boats cooperated but when the Norwegian team approached the fourth boat, shots were fired at them. The team fired in self-defense and retreated to avoid further violence, the statement says.

Alula village head Hareed Issa Omar says the Norwegian team fired first, killing a Somali and a Yemeni man. Omar says they were fishermen and not pirates. Somalia has become the world’s piracy hotspot.