Yemen gas pipline ablaze after attack
2011-10-15 10:26
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Yemen
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Aden - A gas pipeline serving fields in
Yemen's restive southeast was ablaze on Saturday after an overnight
rocket-propelled grenade attack, a Shabwa provincial official told AFP.
The saboteurs struck in the Al-Hadhina
district, just two kilometres from the Balhaf terminal on the Gulf of Aden, disrupting
its operations, the official added, asking not to be identified.
"Following the attack, operations were
halted in several parts of the terminal," the official said without
elaborating.
Huge columns of flame and plumes of smoke
were visible from as far as 25km away, witnesses told AFP.
There was no immediate claim for the attack
but the provincial official said he thought it was likely to have been an
Al-Qaeda attack carried out in retaliation for apparent US air strikes in
Shabwa on Friday that killed seven suspected jihadists, including a son of
US-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaqi.
"I think it is a response to the air
strikes," the official said.
The 320km gas pipeline links fields in Marib
province further north with Balhaf in Shabwa.
Yemen began exports of liquefied natural gas
from the terminal in November 2009.
Both provinces are strongholds of Al-Qaeda.
