Somalia: Seven pirates captured

European Union warships have arrested seven suspected pirates off the cost of Somalia after two fast boats attacked a French fishing vessel, the EU naval force has indicated. France24 states that the soldiers aboard the fishing vessel fired on the pirates after they attacked it, 350 nautical miles east of Mogadishu. The German warship, FGS Karlsrihe, arrested the seven pirates, after the fishing boat had been called back to the scene to try to identify the attackers. Since the beginning of October, subsiding monsoon winds have allowed pirates equipped with small skiffs to continue their operations in earnest after a quiet period that had seen the number of hijacked vessels drop to two.