Tribal blockade disrupts Gas supplies to Aden

ABYAN, Dec. 21 (YPA) – Tribal gunmen on Sunday blocked the entry of local gas tankers heading from Marib to the southern city of Aden, as a gas crisis has continued to worsen in the city and across the southern and eastern provinces of Yemen since early December.

Local sources familiar with the matter said that gunmen from the Al-Mughur tribe seized several gas tankers in the Al-Arqoub area while they were on their way to Aden, in an attempt to pressure the Saudi-led coalition-backed authorities in Abyan province to release detainees held by the tribe

The sources said that the confiscation of the gas tankers came in response to what the tribe described as the authorities’ procrastination in releasing the detainees and delaying the resolution of their case.

The incident occurred two days after armed elements of the Islah party lifted a similar tribal blockade on the Al-Abr Road east of Marib, allowing the passage of gas and fuel tankers supplying the electricity sector in Shabwa province. The developments highlighted the ongoing security instability along the main supply routes of vital materials.

Aden and other Southern and eastern governorates of Yemen, especially Hadramout, have experienced from severe shortages of cooking gas, amid mutual accusations of responsibility for the crisis.

Officials affiliated with the Islah party at the Safar oil facility accused the competent authorities of reducing the distribution of gas tankers to those areas, while other sources blamed influential figures for seizing gas shipments outside the cities in an attempt to trigger shortages in Aden and surrounding provinces.

The confiscation of gas and fuel tankers by tribal militants has been repeated due to the ongoing security chaos and the absence of effective state authority in those areas since early 2016.

AA