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Somali Pirate Gets Life in Prison for Attack on US Naval Ship


FILE - The USS Ashland, shown in an undated photo, was attacked by Somali pirates in 2010.
FILE - The USS Ashland, shown in an undated photo, was attacked by Somali pirates in 2010.

A Somali pirate will be spending the rest of his life in a U.S. federal prison for attacking an American Navy ship in 2010.

Mohamed Farah, 31, was sentenced Wednesday for piracy and other acts in connection with the armed attack on the USS Ashland in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Djibouti.

Three other defendants already got life sentences, while two more were given 15- and 33-year prison terms.

The pirates set out to hijack another ship, but were stopped by a British naval vessel. They then turned their sights on the Ashland, pelting the ship with small-arms fire.

The Ashland returned fire, setting the pirates' small boat ablaze and forcing them into the sea.

The Ashland was not damaged and no one on board was hurt.

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