Pirates seize two more vessels

Bosasso: Somali pirates have hijacked yet another ship and are taking it and a French yacht with two French nationals on board to their base, an official said yesterday.

Gunmen are holding about 10 vessels for ransom at Eyl, a fishing outpost now used by gangs behind a sharp rise in attacks at sea.

"The pirates are sailing to Eyl with the yacht and an Egyptian ship," Hassan Muse Alore, minister for minerals in Somalia's Puntland region, said.