French navy impounds ship full of weapons

French naval forces patrolling the northern Indian Ocean have seized a ship full of weapons they say was heading towards Somalia. Hundreds of assault rifles, machine guns and anti-tank weapons were found.

They seized the weapons under a UN embargo to prevent arms from getting to Somali Islamist militants.

Earlier this month, the Australian navy intercepted a cache of arms on a fishing boat off Oman, also believed to be on its way to Somalia.

It was reported that the French helicopter that spotted the ship is part of the multinational Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) that patrols the Indian Ocean.



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