Somali Pirates seize a cargo ship

Aljazeera English has reported that yet another cargo ship has been seized by Somali pirates off the coast of Somalia Thursday.

A spokeswoman for Nato's anti-piracy mission in London, UK said the Al-Khaliq, a panamanian bulk carrier has been hijacked early Thursday morning off Somalia's coast. The cargo had a crew of 26 on board. The crew had 24 Indians and two Burmese crewmen. The closest ship to the Al Khaliq was some eight hours away when the pirates seized the cargo ship. 

Aljazeera English also reported that the rise in piracy in Somalia's coast has risen in just one year. There have been 114 vessels aboard and of them 34 have been hijacked. Just last week, a Chinese cargo ship with 25 crew members was taken and pirates were threatening to kill their Chinese hostages. 

Since the piracy has risen in Somali, a total of 661 crew members have been taken hostage. Six of those have been killed while eight are still missing. 

Somalia has struggled to build state civility since its creation in 1960 when the territories of the former British protectorate and an Italian colony merged. Plagued by conflict, Somalia has lacked an effective government since 1991. As a result, over 1.5 million Somalis are internally displaced and living in improvised camps, while hundreds of thousands of people have fled the country. Some three million people are now in dire need of food aid.