SANAA: Four bombers and a security guard were killed on Friday when Yemeni security forces foiled twin suicide bombings against oil installations, five days before the impoverished Arab nation goes to the polls. The bombers, in explosives-laden cars, tried to attack an oil refinery in Maarib, a lawless tribal area in the desert east of the capital Sanaa, and a Canadian-run terminal in the southeastern port of Dhabba on the Gulf of Aden.“The two attempts, at around 5:30 am local time (0230 GMT), were foiled by the forces in charge of security at oil installations and the Yemeni army,” a security official said. “In Maarib, the two booby-trapped cars exploded before reaching their target after coming under fire from security forces and soldiers. The two assailants were killed,” he said.
At the Dhabba oil terminal, operated by Canadian company Nexen Inc, the bombersÂ’ two cars also exploded outside the site and the attackers were killed, along with a guard who was hit by gunfire, the official said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility and the source said an investigation had been launched to try to find out who planned the attacks. He did not rule out the possibility that they could have been aimed at hampering the September 20 elections, and also suggested there could be a link with the kidnapping Sunday of four French tourists in the lawless southeast of the country. The Frenchmen were abducted by tribesmen in a bid to put pressure on authorities to free jailed members of their tribe and negotiations have so far failed to secure their release.
FridayÂ’s attack came just days after Osama bin LadenÂ’s right-hand man Ayman al-Zawahiri warned that the Gulf and Israel would be the next targets of Al-Qaeda, in a video message coinciding with the fifth anniversary Monday of the September 11 attacks on the United States. It also followed an attempt by Islamic extremist gunmen to storm the US embassy in Damascus on Tuesday that left four attackers and a guard dead.
The run-up to the presidential and local polls in Yemen, a tribal based country that is one of the poorest nations on the planet, has been marred by violence. Unlike its wealthy Gulf neighbours, Yemen is only a modest oil producer and is not a member of the OPEC oil cartel. Its output is estimated at 380,000 barrels per day.