Attackers blow up Yemen oil pipeline

Saboteurs blew up a section of oil pipeline in eastern Yemen overnight for the second time, stopping the flow of crude, an oil ministry official said on Friday. Armed men blew up the pipeline in the Al-Arqain area of Maarib province late on Thursday, just "one hour after it was repaired following a previous act sabotage", the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Technicians, accompanied by security forces, are trying to seal a breach in the oil pipeline to ensure the pumping of crude can resume," the official said. He blamed tribes in the region east of the capital Sanaa for the attacks, but did not give any further details. The 420-kilometre (260-mile) pipeline links the Safir oilfields to the Ras Issa terminal on the Red Sea, near the city of Hodeida. Attacks on oil and gas pipelines in Yemen are frequent, and Oil Minister Ahmad Dares said this week that sabotage had cost the country $4.75 billion (3.5 billion euros) between March 2011 and March 2013. Source: AFP