Al Shabab, Somalia's al Qaeda franchise that controls part of the country's pirate industry, is hopefully being heavily monitored with various US intel assets in part because several of the ships they have seized are/were carrying ammonium nitrate (AN), a very powerful high explosive when properly mixed and rigged (Tim McVeigh used AN in OKC and the US Embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam were destroyed with AN IEDs). In November 2009, that other terrorist (also Shabab) flying from Mogadishu to Dubai was caught with an explosive whose primary ingredient was ammonium nitrate (NOT PETN).
Shabab has been offloading some of the AN from seized vessels with the intent to use it against US and other Western targets in Africa, Yemen, the Middle East and elsewhere. Do not be surprised if we have been trying like mad to observe the offloading and follow the AN as it gets moved by truck and dhow (mostly), and considerable assets have been assigned to track the stuff. Very serious warnings have been issued regarding this threat. Expect the DoD and CIA's SAD to have both trained for missions to seize pirated vessels carrying AN that are anchored off Somalia. Also, we have the ability (obviously) to use air strikes to hit vehicles and dhows carrying AN away from its original vessel. More than one high-ranking DoD official in the decision/recommendation loop has said we should consider sinking pirated AN vessels while at anchor.
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