Seven Somali people died in Yemen

Seven Somali citizens died yesterday off the coast of Bir Ali, in the Yemeni governorate of Shebwah, while the coast guard was boarding a ship that entered regional waters illegally.

The Yemeni opposition newspaper El-Shoura reported that about 869 refugees -- most of them from Somalia -- have headed to Yemen since the beginning of last month.

Sources in the international commissariat for refugees' affairs confirmed that about 350 Somalians and Eritreans had died during the last year on the Yemeni coast, while they were attempting to sneak into the country.

Some 65,000 African refugees currently residing in Yemen.