On Feb. 1, the Yemeni Interior Ministry said a police patrol foiled the
bombing of the oil pipeline some 30 kilometers east of Sanaa, Middle East Newsline reported. The patrol was
said to have detected a man placing a fuse cable along the pipeline that
extended from oil fields in the Maarib province to A-Salif on the Red Sea.
Police opened fire, but the injured man managed to flee.
This marked the second plot against the Yemeni pipeline in less than 18
months. In September 2008, 10 Sunni tribal members were arrested and charged
with a similar operation.
Officials said Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has targeted energy
facilities as part of the campaign against the Sanaa regime. Yemen produces
nearly 300,000 barrels of oil per day, most of which is exported.
The ministry did not say when the pipeline bombing was foiled. Sanaa has
been investing most of its security efforts to quell the Shi'ite rebels in
the north.
Yemen has rejected a ceasefire offer by the Iranian-backed rebels,
Believing Youth. On Feb. 1, a senior military commander was seriously
injured in a Shi'ite ambush near the northern provincial city of Saada. Col.
Salem Al Wahaishi was identified as commander of the army's 103rd Brigade as
well as deputy governor of Saada.
"Al Houthis [Shi'ite rebels] have deceived the state three times in the
past," the Yemeni Defense Ministry said. "Each time they reneged on their
promises. Security forces will continue to cleanse Saada [province] from the
insurgents."
