New land tactics being employed by Somali pirates may be a cause for concern, a UN spokesman told the BBC.
Peter Smerdon said three trucks and their drivers were being held in the pirate town of Eyl after delivering food aid last week in central Somalia.
He said they were hijacked on Thursday when travelling without an escort in the first incident of its kind.
Pirates have seized several ships carrying food aid and such boats are now brought in by naval escort.
War-torn Somalia has had no functioning government since 1991, allowing pirates to operate along the lawless coast, almost with impunity.
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Most of the country is in turmoil, with the interim government and African Union peacekeepers limited to a few key areas of the capital as they battle hardline Islamist militants who control much of the south.
Long-term impact?
The World Food Programme uses overland routes from northern ports for delivering aid to central areas of the country as roads from the capital, Mogadishu, are too dangerous.
Mr Smerdon said five other trucks were also attacked and were being held by “local communities”.
Most ships held off the pirate stronghold of Eyl are released after the payment of large ransoms.
But earlier AFP news agency quoted a pirate spokesman demanding the release of pirates jailed by the authorities in Somaliland, which is run independently from the rest of Somalia.
“We are concerned, but it’s too early to say whether it’s going to have an impact on our bringing food down from Berbera and Bossasso to central Somalia, which is the region greatest in need,” Mr Smerdon told the BBC.
Over the weekend the agency said Islamist al-Shabab militants were stopping convoys of food reaching people living in displacement camps outside Mogadishu.
In January, the WFP pulled out of large parts of southern Somalia because of militant threats.
Source: BBC
Somaliland should invade pirateland.
Salam
No! Somaliland should keep to its borders and continue making progress. The biggest mistake Somaliland can make is to give a bunch of troublemakers an excuse to blame their mistakes and instability on them. Let the people of Puntland and south central Somalia see for themselves that the problem and answer lays in their hands.
In my opinion, if Somaliland were to militarily get involved and remove the so-called Islamists the people would not welcome their brothers as liberators,but rather as mortal enemies who have come to exact revenge. It's sad, but the majority of Puntland citizens and the south do not care, love or even congratulate their brothers in Somaliland on their progress.
Somalilanders have always tried to share what they have with the displaced peoples of the south, and in turn they've been repaid with suicide bombs, kidnappings, and threats of destruction. Even the police officers in Las Anoud aren't safe, and they're just doing their job. Do not get me wrong. I do not hate any peoples or clans, but in my opinion if these groups were unified and stable they would 100% attack Somaliland again without any regard for Islam or brotherhood. The suicide attacks made by Alshabab and the mainstream rhetoric of the Puntland Administration has made this point painfully clear.
In summary, let us focus on ourselves both socially, economically and religiously and leave their affairs to Allah(swt).
Salam
WFP, should know now if they didn't know already,that Somaliland and puntland are two regions a world apart. One ruled by the rules of laws and respect for humanity where the other one (puntland) is lawless place under the york of pirates.
The UN should give NATO the green light to obliterate these parasites and their hideouts for the benefit of humanity. The Ali Babas’ in Pirateland’s government offices should also be brought to justice for their part in the looting of peoples’ properties.