Yemen: LNG pipeline attacked again

The Balhaf-Marib LNG pipeline was attacked for the third time this year on 21 August, near Ataq. Some sources blame Al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) but oil sector sources think the attack is linked to a tribal dispute. This part of the pipeline runs through an area that the military rarely enters.

 

Militant groups, some linked to AQAP, others not, have operated here and the tribes have previously resisted attempts by the armed forces to main a significant presence. When building the pipeline, Yemen LNG Company had to negotiate passage rights with a variety of tribal groups, with only limited support from the government, whose writ scarcely ran beyond the bigger towns.

 

The company has denied reports of another attack on the line in early September. The government, faced with continuing if lowlevel protests by workers, has banned strikes in the vital oil and gas sector despite union opposition. Yemen needs to extract every dollar it can get from its main exports to make up for the losses on production during the 2011 political crisis and sabotage of pipelines. There are promising signs that output is returning to normal and prices remain buoyant. Fish exports are also looking up.

 

For more news and expert analysis about Yemen, please see Yemen Focus.

© 2012 Menas Associates

Yemen: At least 63 dead in suicide bomb attack in Sana'a

According to Yemeni officials, at least 63 people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack during a rehearsal for a military parade in Sana'a. A suicide bomber, reportedly wearing an army uniform, detonated a bomb among a group of soldiers at al-Sabin Square, near the presidential palace.

Witnesses reported that the remains of the victims were scattered across the Square, as ambulances rushed to the area to take the dozens of wounded to hospital. This latest attack has been the deadliest in the capital since President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi took power in February.

In recent months, there have been almost daily casualties in battles in the mountainous southern desert and towns between government forces, backed by US military advisers, and militants linked to al-Qa'ida. Sana'a, however, has been relatively quiet up to now. Some suggest that the latest attack is a message to the new president the he can expect more confrontations between the army and the militants.

Speaking about the incident, Col Amin al-Alghabati said: “We were in a parade, suddenly there was a huge explosion. Dozens of our men were killed. We tried to help them…The suicide bomber was dressed in a military uniform. He had a belt of explosives underneath.”

Yemen's Defence Minister Nasser Ahmed and the army chief-of-staff were reportedly in the Square at the time, but were not hurt. According to medical officials quoted by AFP news agency at least 96 soldiers had been killed and 300 wounded, who they said were being treated in seven hospitals across Sana'a.

Yemeni military personnel had been practising for a parade for National Unity Day on Tuesday 22nd May, which marks the anniversary of the 1990 unification of the Marxist People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, also known as South Yemen, and the Yemen Arab Republic, known as North Yemen.

Today's attack comes just over a week after the military launched an offensive against Islamist militants linked to al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in the southern province of Abyan.

No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Sources: BBC News, Reuters, AFP

For more news and expert analysis about Yemen, please see Yemen Focus.

Yemen: AQAP attacks US embassy vehicle

Al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is suspected of being ultimately responsible for an attack on a car used by members of the US embassy on their way to or from a restaurant in the diplomatic area. Media reports say a Jordanian, who was arrested at the scene, had exploded a satchel or grenade under the car (which was armoured). No Americans were injured.

The Jordanian had false identity documents and weapons in his vehicle. This was a timely reminder — not that Western residents need one – of the risks even in Sana'a. Earlier in 2010 there were attacks on the British ambassador and then the charge d'affaires. The AQAP attackers have not been arrested (though the first attack was by a suicide bomber).

There was a hit-and-run attack against a soldier in Abyan by a terrorist using a motorbike. This is the 28th such attack in the past few months and comes after efforts to place restrictions on the use of motorbikes. AQAP appears to have been responsible for an attack near Zingibar in Abyan, leading to the death of two soldiers manning a checkpoint, and a failed attack on a senior security officer in Abyan. He was on a list of targets AQAP distributed in September.

For more news and expert analysis about Yemen, please see Yemen Focus.

© 2010 Menas Associates