MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - The U.S. Navy says an American-flagged cargo vessel has escaped a brush with armed pirates off the coast of East Africa.

A spokesman for the U.S. 5th Fleet in Bahrain says the MV Harriette came under small arms fire from suspected pirates Monday aboard two skiffs about 360 nautical miles off Mombasa, Kenya.

Lt. Nate Christensen says pirates came within three feet (a meter) of the vessel, but were unable to board. He says no one on the U.S. ship was injured.

Christensen had not other details of the incident.

The European Union's anti-piracy force says a Norwegian warship clashed with suspected Somali pirates on Sunday.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - The European Union's anti-piracy force says a Norwegian warship has clashed with suspected Somali pirates.

A statement from the force says a team from Norwegian warship HNOMS Fridjof Nansen on Sunday went to talk to the crew of four fishing boats near Alula, a northeastern Somali coastal village known for piracy.

The crew on the first three boats cooperated but when the Norwegian team approached the fourth boat, shots were fired at them. The team fired in self-defense and retreated to avoid further violence, the statement says.

Alula village head Hareed Issa Omar says the Norwegian team fired first, killing a Somali and a Yemeni man. Omar says they were fishermen and not pirates. Somalia has become the world's piracy hotspot.