Horn of Africa covered the Simien and Bale Mountains but melted at the beginning of the Holocene. The mountains descend in a huge escarpment to the Red Sea and more steadily to the Indian Ocean. Socotra is a small island in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia. Its size is 3,600 km (1,390 sq mi) and it is a territory of Yemen. The lowlands of the Horn are generally arid in spite of their proximity to the equator. This is because the winds of the tropical monsoons that give seasonal rains to the Sahel and the Sudan blow from the west.
Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa Horn of Africa, Gulf of Aden, Red Sea, North Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman. On 21 January 2006, , an "Arleigh Burke"-class destroyer, captured a vessel operating off the Somali coast whose crew were suspected of piracy. On 18 March 2006, , a "Ticonderoga"-class cruiser and , an "Arleigh Burke"-class destroyer, engaged pirate vessels after receiving fire from them. On 3 June 2007, , a landing ship dock, engaged pirates attacking a freighter, but failed to repel them. On 28 October 2007, the destroyer , opened fire on pirates who had captured a freighter and with other vessels