On Saturday, Yemen said that tensions had recently flared with Eritrea over "repeated Eritrean provocation of Yemeni fishermen" in the southern Red Sea.
"Yemen exercised restraint in recent months with respect to repeated provocation by Eritrean authorities against Yemeni fishermen as well as seizure of their boats," said a government spokesman in a statement, cited by AFP.
Sanaa, for its part, had resorted to "diplomatic channels to resolve differences over fishing rights (around Red Sea islands) in order not to spark tensions" with Asmara, he added. On their part, Eritrean authorities had in the past couple of months intercepted "more than 30 Yemeni fishermen and seized their boats," a government official told AFP.
He said Asmara had also "conducted military exercises in early September opposite the Yemeni coast, prompting Yemeni authorities to put their armed forces on a higher level of alert for fear of a reckless action by Eritrean troops." (Albawaba.com)
