Two killed, 8 injured in attacks in eastern Yemen

Two Yemeni soldiers have been killed and eight others injured in separate attacks in the east of the country, officials say.

Militants ambushed a military vehicle near the al-Qatn village in Hadhramaut region on Friday, killing two soldiers and injuring another before escaping the scene, a security source said on Saturday.

Yemeni security forces frequently come under attack by gunmen, especially in the southern and eastern parts of the country.

Another security official said that military escort for a convoy of petrol tankers came under fire in the al-Hura region late on Friday.

The convoy was on its way to the al-Masila oilfield when the strike took place. Seven soldiers were injured in the attack and the gunmen fled the site without managing to seize the tanker.

Early on Saturday, Yemen’s main oil pipeline in the central in province of Marib was also bombed by tribesmen, a government official said.

The attack, which took place in the desert tribal area of Wadi Abida, some 173 kilometers northeast of the capital Sana’a, halted oil flows from the Marib fields to the Ras Isa oil terminal on the Red Sea.

The assault left no casualties, but caused fire and damage to the pipeline about 40 kilometers away from the city of Marib.

Oil revenues make up more than 70 percent of Yemen’s state budget. Oil and gas products also account for over 90 percent of Yemen’s exports.

Insurgents and tribesmen have repeatedly attacked oil and gas pipelines in Yemen over the past two years in a bid to win concessions from the central government, causing fuel shortages and slashing export earnings in the impoverished country.

A long closure of the Ras Isa pipeline in 2011 shut down Yemen’s main refinery in Aden, forcing the small producer to import fuel from neighboring Saudi Arabia.