Mogadishu - At least 17 Islamist insurgents have been killed in a gun battle in the Somali capital Mogadishu, a local government official said Friday.

The battle came as the insurgents attacked the home of Ahmed Hassan Daa'I, the district commissioner of Wadajir, south Mogadishu, in the early hours of Friday morning.

"Today we killed 17 insurgents around my home," Hassan Daa'I told reporters. "We have their dead bodies and the weapons they used to attack my home."

Witnesses said that they saw at least 11 bodies in the street but could not tell if they were combatants or civilians.

Copenhagen - Danish shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk said Friday that some of its slower vessels or ones that sail low in the water will stop using the Gulf of Aden over fears of piracy near the Somalian coast.

The company said the vessels would use alternate routes along the south of the Cape of Good Hope and east of Madagascar.

"The policy change will primarily impact our tanker vessels. Only three container vessels will be affected," board member Soren Skou said in statement.

AP Moller-Maersk said the piracy and recent hijackings posed a threat to international trade lanes and should be tackled by "relevant authorities and the international community."

New York  - Citing the continued lack of security in Somalia as a threat to international peace and security, the UN Security Council on Thursday imposed a travel ban and a freeze of financial assets on some individuals considered obstacles to the peace process.

The council also imposed an arms embargo on those individuals or groups to be designated by a UN committee.

The measures are not related to the waves of hijackings of ships by pirates of the Somali coast, but are aimed at strengthening the process of ending lawlessness and violence destabilizing the transitional government.

New Delhi, Nov 20 : External Affairs Ministry on Thursday justified naval action against Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden.

The Indian Navy Warship, INS Tabar, armed with supersonic BrahMos (PJ-10) anti-ship cruise missiles, sank a pirate vessel off the Somali coast after an exchange of fire with the pirates on Tuesday.

This is second successful operation of the naval ship against the pirates in Gulf of Aden, recently.

New Delhi, Nov. 20 : A senior officer of the Indian Navy on Thursday said that the Indian Government is seriously considering a proposal to increase the number of warships in the Gulf of Aden to counter piracy in the area.

Speaking off the record, the naval officer said: "Yes, we are considering a proposal to increase the number of warships in Gulf of Aden to fight the pirates and to protect merchant ships flying the Indian flag."

Mogadishu - They drive flashy cars, throw extravagant parties in their massive houses, talk loudly into the latest mobile phones and take only the most beautiful young women as their wives.

This may seem like a description of any number of bling-bling rap artists, but it also applies to Somali pirates, who are swiftly becoming the Horn of Africa nation's nouveau riche.