Four fishermen kidnapped by Eritrean pirates

Yemen's Ministry of Defense website announced Tuesday that a Yemeni boat #9245 was captured by Eritrean pirates. There were four Yemeni fishermen aboard.

It is unclear exactly when the boat was seized, but the website indicated it occurred within the past few days.

The statement said a Red Seacoast guard received notification of a missing boat owned by a resident in Taiz governorate.

The statement also said the boat was overtaken in international waters, and the boat is currently located off of Eritrea, near Hejar.

Coast Guard Manager Shoja’a Mahdi said boat captures have been increasing since 2006.

“Every day we register notifications of kidnapped boats, especially from the Red Sea area,” he said.

Mahdi said the coast guard informed the Ministry of Fisheries that fishermen should pay attention while fishing, especially along Red Sea coasts.

Mahdi said that there are about 6000 boats confiscated in the Eritrean coasts, but there is no specific number of the kidnapped fishermen.

Independent news website Al-Masder published that Wadee’a Atta, head of Sanad Organization for Justice and Development, said there about 220 kidnapped Yemeni fishermen in Eritrea, close to Fatema Island.