ADEN, Yemen,(Xinhua) Yemen accused Eritrea of ​​arresting scores of Yemeni fishermen in Yemeni waters in the Red Sea in the west of the country, while a Yemeni official spoke of Arab mediation of the truce between the two sides.

The General Director of the Yemeni Coast Guard forces in the Red Sea sector, Colonel Abd al-Jabbar Zahzouh, said in press statements that the Eritrean navy forces arrested about 120 Yemeni fishermen.

The Yemeni government called on Eritrea to release the fishermen.

"The Eritrean side carried out repeated attacks on Yemeni fishermen in the Yemeni waters, dozens of them were kidnapped and their boats were confiscated," said Yemeni Minister of Fish Wealth Fahd Kafayen in a statement.

"These practices are unacceptable and should be stopped," Kaveen added.

The Yemeni minister called on the "Eritrean side to stop these practices and release the fishermen, who were kidnapped from the Yemeni waters and to hand over the boats and equipment that had been seized."

The Yemeni Coast Guard announced yesterday, Wednesday, that it had detained two boats with seven Eritreans on board, after arresting Yemeni fishermen.

Today, a Yemeni official revealed a mediation led by an Arab country, which he did not mention, in order to calm between Yemen and Eritrea.

The head of the Yemeni Coast Guard, Major General Khaled Ali Muhammad Al-Qamali, told Xinhua that there is mediation led by an Arab country between Yemen and Eritrea.

He stressed that "mediation aims to calm the two sides."

Al-Qamali said that they asked the mediation to complete the exchange and release of Yemeni fishermen on 14 fishing boats, in exchange for the release of detainees from the Eritrean Navy.

The Yemeni official did not disclose the country leading the mediation, but indicated that "there is tangible progress."

On Wednesday, Al-Qamali told Xinhua that Eritrean coast guard forces entered Yemeni territorial waters and reached near the island of Hanish on the Red Sea in western Yemen.

Al-Qamali said that "the Yemeni Coast Guard forces present in the islands of Zaqar and Hanish, yesterday confronted the Eritrean forces and seized two boats with seven Eritreans on board."

Al-Qamali indicated at the time that the two boats were under investigation.

The Hanish islands are located in the southern part of the Red Sea, close to the international waterway, "Bab al-Mandab".

Yemen and Eritrea disputed the islands in 1995, and international arbitration announced in 1998 that the archipelago belonged to Yemen.

The director of the "Bab al-Mandab" Center for Regional Studies, Nabil al-Bakiri, told (Xinhua), "These islands (Hanish) are supposed to be under the protection and responsibility of the Arab coalition represented by Saudi Arabia (the leader of the alliance), and they are on good terms with the Eritrean side, and perhaps they will press it To stop the escalation. "