Yemen gas pipeline attacked

Saboteurs struck a gas pipeline in southern Yemen on Friday, causing liquefied natural gas (LNG) output to be shut down in the Middle Eastern nation.

Residents said flames could be seen from several kilometers away and an employee of French oil firm Total said exports had been halted. Total is the leading stakeholder at the plant in the port city of Balhaf affected by the damaged pipeline.

"The explosion took place 28 kilometers (17.5 miles) north of the Balhaf LNG export plant. Production has been halted," an employee of Yemen LNG told the Reuters newswire service.

The pipeline has been attacked before by disaffected tribesmen. The last time was in October, and took about 10 days to be repaired. The facility at Balhaf cost $4.5 billion (3.37 billion euros) when it was built in 2009 and was the largest industrial project in the poor Arab state.

Drone attack

The pipeline attack followed a US military drone strike hours earlier, which targeted eight militants, killing five suspected al Qaeda members.

Journalists in Yemen received a text message claiming responsibility for the attack from Ansar al-Sharia, a group with ties to al Qaeda.

"The mujahideen blew up the pipeline ... in retaliation for the strike for which Crusader America and its obedient slave in Sanaa are responsible," the message said, referring to the seat of Yemeni government.

Yemen's position on the Bab al-Mandab strait is vital to international trade and sees millions of barrels of oil and other goods transferred between Asia and the West on a daily basis.

sjt/pfd (Reuters, AFP)