Danish Soldier Implicated in Death of 2 Pirate Hostages

A Danish soldier is very likely to be held responsible by military prosecutors in the death of two mariners held hostage by Somali pirates. He was involved in stopping a pirate vessel off Somalia in February of this year.

Prosecutors say the soldier, who opened fire at the hijacked Jelbut 37 ship in an attempt to force it to halt, accidentally killed an Iranian and a Pakistani hostage in the process. Prosecutors stated that the soldier would not be put on trial since anti-piracy operations are naturally associated with deadly risks.

The Absalon warship intercepted the hijacked fishing boat on Feb. 27, freeing 16 crew members from Iran and Pakistan and capturing 17 pirates. (View the initial report here.)

Piracy is a continuous plague to merchant ships in the shipping lanes of the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea.