Aden streets turn into protest sit-ins over worsening power outages

ADEN, June 07 (YPA) – Hundreds of residents in Yemen’s southern port city of Aden took to the streets on Sunday in angry protests over worsening power outages, which reportedly exceeded 17 hours per day amid soaring summer temperatures.

Demonstrations erupted in the Al-Mansoura district, where protesters blocked roads with stones and burning tyres to denounce the prolonged collapse of electricity services in the city, where temperatures have surpassed 40 degrees Celsius.

Protesters announced an open-ended sit-in and vowed to remain in the streets overnight, while calls intensified for demonstrators to march toward Al-Maashiq Palace, the headquarters of the Saudi-backed government, demanding an end to the “false Saudi promises.”

The unrest comes amid mounting public anger over the failure of the Saudi-backed government headed by Shayea Al-Zindani, to secure crude fuel supplies for the strategic Petromasila power station, despite the availability of fuel resources in the governorates of Shabwa and Hadramout.

Demonstrators accused Saudi authorities and affiliated local officials of deliberately obstructing the operation of the power plant, claiming that the Saudi special committee has imposed what they described as a “service blockade” on the city of Aden.

Witnesses and medical sources said the prolonged power outages have severely impacted healthcare facilities by disrupting critical infrastructure, with reports of deaths among elderly people, children, and critically ill patients due to extreme heat and worsening medical conditions in Aden.

Residents called for urgent measures to address what they described as an unbearable humanitarian and service crisis, warning that public anger in Aden could escalate further in the coming days as living conditions continue to deteriorate.

@E.Y.M