Pirates holding a Taiwanese-flagged ship since 6 April off the coast of Somalia fired on a US Navy helicopter that was monitoring it, 26 August. The US Navy says that the helicopter was not hit and the crew did not return fire. The Win Far was captured 6 April and has been used by the pirates to launch attacks on other ships, most notably the US-flagged Maersk Alabama. That attack ended when Navy snipers killed three of the pirates holding the American captain. The coast off Somalia, which has had no functioning government since 1991, is particularly prone to piracy, according to the International Maritime Bureau which montitors piracy world-wide.

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