U.S. Navy reportedly intercepted and interrupted a weapons smuggling operation in the international waters of Gulf and Aden and near Somalia.
The guided-missile destroyer USS Jason Dunham deployed to U.S. 5th Fleet, seized a ship loaded with 2,500 AK-47 rifles believed were to be sneaked into Somalia or into Yemen.
Though they don’t look well maintained, the end user may have experts who could have redone them to excellent shape. Somalia is a prevalent destination for smuggled weapons via the ocean that usually find their way into Al-Shabaab’s camps.
On March 9, 2016, another weapon cache was seized by Australian Navy and Somali military reports confirmed that the weapons were meant the Somali based Al-Shabaab militant group.
The Australian Navy while carrying out counter-terrorism operations in the Middle East intercepted a fishing boat some 300 kilometers from Oman and seized 1,989 AK-47 assault rifles, 100 rocket propelled grenade launchers, 49 PKM general purpose machine guns, 39 PKM spare barrels and 20 60mm mortar tubes.
