The newly coalesced Somali navy has seized a vessel they said was illegal exporting charcoal from the nation, an official said Monday.
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In an interview with government-run Radio Mogadishu, Admiral Farah Ahmed, who commands the navy, said Somali naval forces captured the ship after operations off Somali coasts.
The seizure comes two weeks after Somali government banned the export of charcoal export.
In December, Prime Minister Mohamed Abdulahi Mohamed called on businessmen involved in this trade to look for other ways of making money.
“Exporting charcoal creates many problems including deforestation and we cannot accept our people to live in a desert,” he said.
This new government is the first administration to take steps to curb the deforestation of Somalia, a country that has had no effective functioning central rule since 1991.
Charcoal made in Somalia is reported to be exported to Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and other Arab nations.
Admiral Ahmed vowed they will continue their fight against illegal export of charcoal, noting the ship sailed from one of the seaports in southern Somalia, but he didn’t specifically state the harbor.
It is the first time the Somali navy managed to intercept a vessel carrying illegal exports.
The commander said naval forces are also fighting Somali pirates.
“A lot of new Somali naval forces were trained and are now operating off the Indian ocean to fight with Somali pirates,” Ahmed was quoted as saying.
Warships from the United States, Britain, Japan, France and other countries have been patrolling waters off Somali in an anti-piracy task force, but have been unable to uproot the problem of piracy.
Somali pirates continue to operate. At least 26 vessels and more than 450 hostages are currently in the hands of pirates.
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