Armed groups and militias
Piracy off Somalia: the groups, the peak and the response
Armed groups based on the coasts of Mudug, Nugaal and Bari carried out ship hijackings off Somalia from the mid-2000s. Attacks peaked in 2009–2011, with 237 attempted and 28 successful hijackings reported in 2011, and ransoms estimated at tens of millions of dollars a year. Naval patrols, armed guards on ships and action on land by Puntland's forces cut attacks sharply from 2012. Hijackings resumed on a smaller scale from late 2023. The best-known network, Hobyo-Harardhere, was led by Mohamed Abdi Hassan 'Afweyne', sentenced in Belgium in 2016.
In short
Piracy off Somalia was carried out by armed groups based in coastal towns such as Eyl, Garacad, Hobyo and Harardhere. This page records what the sources say about who took part, how it was financed and how it was countered, without taking sides on its causes.
How it began
Wikipedia records that Somalia's navy dissolved in 1990–91 (see Somali Navy), leaving its waters unpatrolled. Foreign trawlers fished there without licences, and local fishermen formed armed groups. Some coastal communities described these groups as a "people's coastguard" defending their waters, and one estimate put losses to unlicensed fishing at about US$300 million a year (Wikipedia, Piracy off the coast of Somalia).
The peak, 2008–2011
Wikipedia, citing press and industry reports, records 111 attacks and 42 hijackings in 2008, and 237 attempted and 28 successful hijackings in 2011. Ransoms in 2008 were estimated at about US$80 million (Wikipedia). In October 2008 the UN Security Council's resolution 1838 called on states to use force against piracy, and naval missions including the EU's Operation Atalanta, NATO's Operation Ocean Shield and the multinational Combined Task Forces patrolled the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean (Wikipedia).
The naval missions are covered in Naval missions off Somalia.
Networks and bases
- Hobyo-Harardhere network. Led from 2005 by Mohamed Abdi Hassan "Afweyne", described as the most powerful pirate organisation (Wikipedia).
- Other groups. Wikipedia names Abdul Hassan's "Central Regional Coast Guard" of about 350 men; Abshir Boyah, jailed by Puntland in 2010; and Isse Mohamoud Yusuf in Alula, who renounced piracy in 2015 and was later sanctioned by the US over alleged supply of fuel and arms to the Islamic State in Somalia (Wikipedia).
Wikipedia records that investors bought shares in planned attacks through a "bourse" in Harardhere, that ransoms were paid in dollars and that weapons came mostly from Yemen and Mogadishu through hawala dealers (Wikipedia).
Links to armed groups
The UN's counter-piracy chief said in 2011 that al-Shabaab sought closer ties with pirates, but that he had no definite proof. Al-Shabaab was reported to have demanded 20 per cent of future ransoms from Harardhere gangs, and Hizbul Islam briefly seized Harardhere in May 2010 and drove out the local pirates (Wikipedia). Afweyne's son alleged that his father paid al-Shabaab a share of ransoms for protection (Maritime Executive, 14 March 2016).
The response on land and the decline
Puntland's government set up the Puntland Maritime Police Force in 2009–2010, pushed pirate gangs out of Eyl and Garacad, and began a base at Bandar Siyada, west of Bosaso; pirates then moved to Hobyo, El Danaan and Harardhere. In Eyl, religious leaders and elders also turned against piracy (Wikipedia). See Puntland security forces. Attempted hijackings fell to 75 in 2012, and in 2013 there were none that succeeded; the risk firm Control Risks credited ship protection measures, armed guards, naval patrols and action on shore (Wikipedia).
Afweyne's trial
In October 2013 Belgian police arrested Afweyne and Mohamed Moalin-Aden "Tiiceey", a former president of Himan and Heeb, after luring them to Brussels as consultants on a fictitious film. In March 2016 a court in Bruges sentenced Afweyne in absentia to 20 years for leading the 2009 hijacking of the Belgian vessel Pompei; Tiiceey received five years and called himself "a political prisoner". The Maritime Executive recorded that Afweyne had begun recruiting in 2003, retired in 2013 and invested ransom money in businesses including khat (Maritime Executive).
Resurgence since 2023
The International Maritime Bureau reported in December 2023 the first successful hijacking of a cargo ship in the area in six years. In March 2024 Indian naval commandos retook the MV Ruen and took 35 suspects to Mumbai for trial. In 2026 the tanker Honour 25 was hijacked in April and freed by Puntland forces in September; five crew members were reported killed (Wikipedia).
Sources differ
- Causes. Some accounts stress illegal fishing and dumping by foreign ships; others stress profit and organised investment.
- Links to al-Shabaab. Reported demands for a share of ransoms are documented; operational ties have not been proven.
Read the primary sources yourself
- Maritime Executive, "Somali pirate kingpin sentenced to 20 years" (2016): article.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Piracy off the coast of Somalia · en.wikipedia.org
- Maritime Executive, 14 March 2016 · maritime-executive.com
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Read the callWhere this matters
- Garoowe (Garowe) and NugaalNugaal is the region around Garoowe (Garowe), Puntland's capital, with about 656,910 people in three districts.
- Gaalkacyo (Galkayo) and MudugMudug is a region of central Somalia with about 1.5 million people, split between Puntland in the north and Galmudug in the south.
- Dhuusamarreeb (Dhusamareb) and GalgaduudGalgaduud is a region of central Somalia in Galmudug State, with Dhusamareb (Dhuusamarreeb) as its capital and about 845,000 people.
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- United Somali Congress (USC), 1989–2003The USC, 1989–2003: founding in Rome, Aidid's military wing, the fall of Mogadishu in 1991, the Ali Mahdi and Aidid wings, and what became of them.
- Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), 1985–2004The SPM, 1985–2004: origins, army defections in 1990, the Jess and Morgan wings, Kismayo, the 1998 Jubaland project, and later groups.
- Somali National Front (SNF), 1991–2001The SNF, 1991–2001: who formed it, its leaders, the 1991–92 campaign, Gedo, relations with Ethiopia and al-Itihaad, and its merger into the TNG.
- Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA), 1995–2004The RRA, 1995–2004: founding at Jhaffey, the taking of Huddur and Baidoa, Ethiopian support, the 2002 South West State and split, and the move into the TFG.
- Somali National Alliance (SNA)The Somali National Alliance, 1992–2002: how it was formed, its member factions, the war with UNOSOM II, the split with Osman Atto, Hussein Aidid's leadership and its end.
- Somali Democratic Movement (SDM)The Somali Democratic Movement, the Digil and Mirifle movement founded in 1989: its place in the Somali National Alliance, the 1993 Baidoa congress and council, and its successor, the RRA.