YEMENI FISHERMEN ESCAPE PIRATE HIJACK

ADEN, Nov. 24 (Saba) - A group of Yemeni fishermen have escaped a
pirate hijack attempt off Aden, the second attack in almost a week.

A source at the Fishermen Association in the Sira district said the
fishermen had arrived at the area in critical condition and were
being hospitalized.

They told us that Somali pirates attacked them and tried to hijack
their boat but they could flee, the source said.

The attack is the second this week after Somali pirates attacked a
boat earlier and threw its crew into sea. The crew members were
rescued by anti-piracy forces in the Arabian Sea 36 hours after the
pirates threw them.

Somali pirates have launched some attacks in the pirate-plagued Gulf
of Aden in recent weeks. The latest were the hijackings of two cargo
ships, one was a Panama-flagged ship seized last week.

The fresh attacks came though the pirates did not step their attacks
off Somalia this year after the last year saw a surge with more than
140 vessels attacked, out of which 40 already seized with crews.

The pirates usually demand ransoms for what they take, millions of
dollars at most.

In response to the soaring phenomenon off Somalia, many world
countries moved sending anti-piracy missions to protect merchant
ships along one of the world's busiest waterways where almost 20.000
ships pass a year.

FR