GAROWE, Somalia Sep 29 (Garowe Online) - Residents in Somalia's Puntland State are frequently reporting of foreign helicopters hunting wildlife in rural and coastal areas, Radio Garowe reports.

The reports began in Nov. 2008 and have impacted towns and villages in Puntland's Nugal, Karkar and Mudug regions.

On Tuesday, a Somali livestock herder named Osman "Zoppe" Hassan Abdirahman who lives in Nugal region's Godobjiran district reported that foreign helicopters are "terrorizing" local populations.

"I saw with my own eyes a military helicopter flying overhead with a net full of deer hanging below," Mr. Zoppe said via a telephone interview on Radio Garowe's Good Morning program.

He described the military helicopters as "spraying the wildlife" before collecting them in big nets and flying away. "Some of my livestock were killed by the spray," he added, while describing the spray as "a type of poison."

Mr. Zoppe said the helicopters mostly "collect deer and pigs in the wild" and said local nomad families are "terrorized" by the helicopter's actions.

He said helicopters from foreign naval warships patrolling Somalia's long coast, especially the waters around Puntland State, as responsible for hunting the wildlife.

NATO warships are patrolling the Puntland coast in a campaign against pirates, who pose a serious threat to international maritime trade.

Puntland is a self-governing region in northeast Somalia. Since 2007, the region has seen a spike in pirate attacks and attracted NATO warships to its shores.

RELATED:
READ: Somalia: Helicopters hunt wildlife, residents say [Aug. 2009]
READ: Coastal villagers report of helicopters hunting wildlife [Nov. 2008]

Source: Garowe Online