Defiant pirates fire on US ship

SOMALI pirates shot at a ship in a brazen daylight attack off Mombasa in an apparent show of defiance.

They fired rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons at US cargo ship Liberty Sun which was carrying humanitarian aid to Kenya.

Pirates have seized four other ships with 60 hostages since US special forces killed three gunmen when they freed hijacked American freighter captain Richard Phillips on Sunday. "No one can deter us," one bandit boasted. The Liberty Sun's American crew was not injured but the vessel sustained damage and a small fire broke out.

The destroyer USS Bainbridge, which was carrying Mr Phillips home, responded to the attack but the pirates had gone by the time it arrived.