Four bombers and a security guard were killed yesterday when Yemeni security forces foiled twin suicide bombings against oil installations.
The attack came just days before the nation goes to the polls and four days after al-Qaeda urged Muslims to target Western interests, especially oil installations.
The Interior Ministry said four bombers were killed when security forces blew up four rigged cars at dawn before they reached their targets. A guard was also killed.
There was no damage to the state-owned facilities, the ministry added. Yemen, a minor oil producer, is the ancestral home of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and has been battling militants for years.
"The Interior Ministry foiled early this morning two terrorist attacks involving four cars that targeted an oil exporting terminal in Hadramout and an oil refinery and gas production unit in Marib," a statement carried on state media said.
The attempted attacks occurred east of the capital Sanaa.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Yemen said it had launched an investigation.
The statement said that in the first attack, one of the bombers was disguised as a military officer while the second attacker was wearing the uniform of workers at the terminal.
It said a small fire broke out at one of the storage tanks in Hadramout, and it was quickly brought under control.
In the Marib attack, two cars tried to storm the refinery and gas production unit, the ministry said.
"The suicide terrorist attack did not result in any loss of life or damage to the refinery or gas production unit in Marib, whereas both suicide attackers were killed on site," it said.
Yemen, which produces around 400,000 barrels per day of crude oil, is due to hold presidential and municipal elections on Sept. 20.
The country has vowed to crack down on attacks by al-Qaeda-linked militants and kidnappings of foreigners by disgruntled tribesmen.
The Arab country joined the US-led war on terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks on the US in 2001.
The attack came just days after Osama bin Laden's right-hand man Ayman al-Zawahiri warned that the Gulf and Israel would be the next targets of al-Qaeda, in a video message coinciding with Monday's anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Al-Zawahri called on Muslims to strike Western interests and stop what he called the theft of Muslim oil by Western countries.
"The strongest way to aid our Muslim brothers ... is to strike the interests of Jews and Crusaders and those who cooperate with them," Zawahri said in a video posted on a Web site used by Islamist militants.
"There must be a focus on their economic interests and in particular on stopping the theft of Muslims' plundered petroleum," he said.
Militant attacks off the Yemeni coast have included the bombing in 2000 of the US Cole and an attack in 2002 on the French supertanker Limburg.
The run-up to next Wednesday's elections has been marred by violence. President Ali Abdallah Saleh is virtually certain to win the poll in which he faces four challengers.
The 64-year-old field marshal has been at the helm since 1978, first as president of the then North Yemen and then as leader of the unified state after north and south merged in May 1990. More than 50 people have been killed in stampedes during his campaign rallies.
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
ESPIONAGE: The British government’s decision on the proposed embassy hinges on the security of underground data cables, a former diplomat has said A US intervention over China’s proposed new embassy in London has thrown a potential resolution “up in the air,” campaigners have said, amid concerns over the site’s proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables. The furor over a new “super-embassy” on the edge of London’s financial district was reignited last week when the White House said it was “deeply concerned” over potential Chinese access to “the sensitive communications of one of our closest allies.” The Dutch parliament has also raised concerns about Beijing’s ideal location of Royal Mint Court, on the edge of the City of London, which has so
RSS