Private Dianna Sanguignon took part in the mission to rescue our fishermen from their Somali captors, becoming the first Seychellois woman to be involved in such an operation.
A smiling Private Sanguignon told Nation she and her colleagues were well prepared and adequately equipped for the mission “and there was nothing to fear”.
She urged more Seychellois women to join the Seychelles People’s Defence Forces which she said offers many chances for training and advancement “with increasing opportunities especially now that a new base is being built”.
“I came to the coast guard straight from training upon my request and I saw nothing for us to fear as we are well-trained how to handle and use our weapons,” she said.
Miss Sanguignon joined the coastguard in August.
She described how the coastguard disarmed one of the suspects whom she said had a deadly rocket-propelled grenade launcher by shooting him in the arm.
“The others had self-loading rifles, some of which did not seem to function very well during the exchange of fire with us,” she said.
Her main role was to handle communication and navigation equipment, she said.
One of the suspected pirates died of his wounds when he was being transported to the Seychelles Hospital, where fisherman Bernard Reginald yesterday said he is doing well after surgery to remove a bullet from his arm.
Mr Michel reaffirmed his resolve to never – “by the grace of God” – allow any of our fishermen be taken to Somalia by pirates and pledged Seychelles “determination to defend itself from aggression particularly by Somali pirates”.
“We have sent another strong message to the pirates and shown the international community that Seychelles may be small but you cannot play around with it.
“Seychellois are a determined nation when they decide to take necessary action.”
He noted the role our friendly partners have played through his successful active diplomacy policy where other countries have helped us acquire faster boats which can reach farther to save any of our fishermen seized by pirates.
Their role shows no country can live in isolation in today’s world and each needs friends to realise certain goals, he said.
“Our soldiers are well-equipped to discharge their responsibility.”
Mr Michel stressed precautions are always taken to ensure our fishermen’s lives are not threatened during rescue missions but added in such confrontations when attacked one has to defend oneself and take the extra measures needed to retake the hostages.
He said in such situations there is always some regrettable risk of injuries taking place.
“It is not our intention to kill Somalis but unfortunately they were armed and fired at us so we too had to take measures to protect ourselves and save our fellow Seychellois,” he said, noting some have so far died.
“They came and started war with us and naturally we had to defend ourselves and take back our people.”
Mr Michel said the plan to repatriate Somali pirates convicted by our courts is making good progress, noting Minister Morgan has just returned from negotiations over this.
Mr Morgan – who heads the High Level Committee on Piracy is expected to brief the press on latest developments tomorrow.
During the interview, Mr Michel said our forces are the most vigilant in the region against pirates and even without piracy we would still maintain a keen watch over our waters.
He gave the example of last week’s operation where aerial surveillance was involved along with the regular coastguard and the special force Tazar along with the other partnerships mention in the main article on the rescue mission.
He said surveillance will continue to see if there is a Mother ship from which the suspects possibly came for “we will not play games with pirates because they are not coming for us to play with them”.
“We are serious, vigilant and will never rest on our laurels,” said Mr Michel.
Source: Seychelles Nation
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