A new report of the “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia pursuant to Security Council resolution 1853” was published on March 10th. According to the report, Pirates transnationalize and establish political contacts beyond the immediate region. The report re-emphasizes that the “coast guard”-argument is implausible, although it continues to be raised in international news coverage. Earlier information suggests that pirates are organized in fairly small and loose gangs with flat hierarchical structures. This, however, the report suggests might be changing. The government of Puntland appears to be even more entangled in the piracy operations than already known. Read more →