Yemen sees second bombing of oil pipeline in a week

Armed activists loyal to the Southern Transitional Council (STC) have been accused of the second bombing of an oil pipeline in Yemen within a week. The attack by the STC, which calls for the separation of the southern part of Yemen from the north and is backed by the UAE, took place after companies operating in the oil fields had not paid protection money as per a longstanding agreement.

The separatists had given the oil companies operating in Usaylan, in the north of Shabwah Governorate, until 31 December to pay them to protect the oil pipeline. According to the commander of the Second Battalion of the Southern Resistance militia, Salem Durehim, which is supposed to protect the pipeline, the fighters had not been paid for doing this job since 25 September, 2022.

Durehim confirmed that they had given the oil companies a deadline to respond to their demands, saying that they “would not be responsible for what happens after its expiration.”

Last week, fighters blew up an oil pipeline in the same district. The pumping of oil was stopped in the pipeline linking the fields of the Safer facility in Marib and the Jannah Hunt oil fields in neighbouring Shabwah, according to reports by Reuters received from local sources.

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