Somali pirates have seized two Yemeni fishing ships with 22 fishermen on board in the Gulf of Aden, a regional maritime group confirmed on Friday.

A statement from the East Africa's Seafarers Assistance Program (SAP) said the pirates seized the vessel on Wednesday as they sailed off the Mait area near the southern port city of Aden.

The statement quoting Yemeni ministry of interior said the authorities have confirmed that all the 22 fishermen taken as hostages by the pirates were Yemenis, but sources of Yemen's Coastguards Authority said that seven fishermen escaped on a small boat and had claimed the pirates attacked the two ships as they were sailing in the Gulf of Aden.

"A total of 17 crew members on board in coastal waters in the Gulf of Aden were hijacked," a state-run website reported.

However, independent sources said that before the pirates took control of the two ships, seven Yemeni fishermen escaped on a small boat to report the attacks to the authorities in Aden.

The seizure came as the UN-sponsored meeting concluded in Nairobi on Thursday with participants calling for greater cooperation to combat the rampant piracy off the coast of Somalia, and emphasizing that a durable solution to the problem requires peace and stability in the war-ravaged Horn of Africa nation.

A communique issued at the end of the two-day gathering in Nairobi, Kenya, stressed "the importance of enhancing coordination and cooperation in the fight against piracy," welcoming recent steps taken by nations and organizations to fight the scourge.

(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2008)