SANA'A, March 13 (Saba) - About 750 Africans, including 85 women and 25 children, sneaked into Yemen last February, Interior Ministry has reported.

The security sources said that about 382 of the Africans were Ethiopians, arrested either immediately at their arrivals to the Yemeni coasts or inside cities.

The rest of the Africans were from different nationalities; Nigerian, Sudanese, Eritrean and Djiboutian.

Moreover, security authorities in Abyan province have arrested on 102 Ethiopians, including 15 women and three children, in Ahwar coast, while five others were arrested in Taiz province. All of them were sent to the competent authorities to take the legal procedures.

People from the Horn of Africa countries continue to flee their ravaged countries heading to Yemen, with the authorities saying the number of those who have already arrived in the country until last year is more 700,000 people, mainly coming from Somalia.

Yemen has ordered security authorities in all coastal cities to close all waterways to prevent possible infiltration of terrorists from Africa after Somalia's al-Shabaab Movement said it would send fighters to support al-Qaeda in the country.

Al-Shabaab's statement followed successful government raids against al-Qaeda hideouts in north and south Yemen in late 2009 in which scores of terrorist suspects were killed and arrested.

MB/AF