An attack by ‘al-Qaeda elements’ at a gas terminal in Yemen killed five soldiers today, a military source said, as Washington kept its embassy in Sanaa closed.
‘The attackers arrived in a car at the army checkpoint near the Balhaf terminal. They opened fire with automatic weapons, killing five soldiers before fleeing,’ the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The soldiers belonged to an army unit responsible for security at the Balhaf terminal in Yemen’s Shabwa province, part of which is run by French company Total. The terminal, through which the bulk of Yemen’s gas exports pass, was not among the reported targets of a large-scale al-Qaeda plot that Yemeni authorities say they foiled in recent days.
But a government spokesman said that pipelines leading to the terminal were among the targets.
Al-Qaeda also plotted to assault the Canadian-run Mina al-Dhaba oil terminal in Hadramawt province further east and take staff hostage, including Western expatriates, spokesman Rajeh Badi told AFP.
A nearby export facility for oil derivatives was also targeted, Badi said.
Today’s attack follows a wave of US drone strikes against suspected al-Qaeda militants in Yemen that has killed 38 people since 28 July.
‘The attackers arrived in a car at the army checkpoint near the Balhaf terminal. They opened fire with automatic weapons, killing five soldiers before fleeing,’ the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The soldiers belonged to an army unit responsible for security at the Balhaf terminal in Yemen’s Shabwa province, part of which is run by French company Total. The terminal, through which the bulk of Yemen’s gas exports pass, was not among the reported targets of a large-scale al-Qaeda plot that Yemeni authorities say they foiled in recent days.
But a government spokesman said that pipelines leading to the terminal were among the targets.
Al-Qaeda also plotted to assault the Canadian-run Mina al-Dhaba oil terminal in Hadramawt province further east and take staff hostage, including Western expatriates, spokesman Rajeh Badi told AFP.
A nearby export facility for oil derivatives was also targeted, Badi said.
Today’s attack follows a wave of US drone strikes against suspected al-Qaeda militants in Yemen that has killed 38 people since 28 July.