US Navy captures 6 pirates after battle

A statement by the US Navy said the suspected pirates began shooting at the amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland just before dawn about 380 miles off Djibouti,a small nation facing Yemen across the mouth of the Red Sea.

The Navy said the Ashland returned fire and the suspected pirate skiff was destroyed. All six people on board were rescued and taken aboard the Ashland.

The Ashland suffered no injuries or damage in the second recent attack on a US warship by suspected pirates.

On March 31,the frigate USS Nicholas exchanged fire with a suspected pirate vessel west of the Seychelles,sinking their skiff and confiscating a mother ship. Five suspected pirates were captured.

On Monday,the destroyer USS McFaul responded to the distress call from a merchant vessel and captured 10 other suspected pirates.

The Navy said it was reviewing multiple options on the suspects fates.

Some suspected pirates have been turned over to Kenya for trial,but there has been some reluctance by African nations to become a center for prosecutions. In December,the Dutch government released 13 suspected Somali pirates after the EU failed to find a country willing to prosecute them. One of the suspected pirates accused of attacking the US-flagged merchant ship Maersk Alabama last year is facing trial in the US.