US 5th Fleet seizes weapons shipment from stateless dhow

Reuters | Washington

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The US Navy’s Fifth Fleet said on Saturday that the guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61) seized an illicit shipment of weapons from a stateless dhow in international water of the North Arabian Sea on May 6-7.

“The cache of weapons included dozens of advanced Russian-made anti-tank guided missiles, thousands of Chinese Type 56 assault rifles, and hundreds of PKM machine guns, sniper rifles and rocket-propelled grenades launchers.

Other weapon components included advanced optical sights,” the Bahrain-based Fleet said in a statement. “After all illicit cargo was removed, the dhow was assessed for seaworthiness, and after questioning, its crew was provided food and water before being released,” the statement said