Somali pirates hijacked two Yemeni fishing ships and took 22 fishermen hostage in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday, Yemen's Interior Ministry said. The pirates attacked the ships as they sailed off the Mait area near the southern port city of Aden, the ministry said in a statement posted on its website. Before the pirates took control of the ships, seven fishermen escaped on a small boat to report the attacks to the Yemeni Coast Guard Authority in Aden, the statement said. Twenty-two other fishermen, all Yemenis, were held hostage on the hijacked ships, it said.
