Houthis shell Aden refinery for second time

SANAA, June 29, (RTRS): Houthi forces in Yemen shelled the oil refinery in the southern city of Aden on Monday for the second time in three days, an official at the facility said, hitting an empty fuel tank with a rocket.

The Houthis, who took over the capital Sanaa last September, have been battling local fighters in the south for three months.

On Saturday, Houthi missiles destroyed two storage tanks at the refinery and a pipeline connecting it to the city’s oil port. Its director of operations was also killed.

“The refinery suffered today a new rocket (attack) which targeted an empty storage tank at the refinery port,” Nasser Shayef, a media official at the refinery, told Reuters.

“In the refinery’s tanks there’s a large amount of petrol and diesel which the shelling did not reach,” he added. “We fear a catastrophe if there’s new shelling.”

Another official said the rocket landed in an open area next to the Aden Oil Company, also within the premises of the refinery at Buraiqah, on the northwestern suburbs of the city.

Refinery officials said firefighters on Monday brought under control a blaze ignited by Saturday’s missile attack, although an oil tank was still smouldering.

Officials added that the refinery’s port, the last one in the city still in anti-Houthi hands, remained unharmed.

An Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia has been bombing the Houthis for three months to try to restore Yemen’s exiled government, and has imposed a near-blockade on the country, cutting off trade in food and fuel.

Industry sources said in April the 150,000 barrelsper-day Aden refinery had shut its operations and declared force majeure on its imports and exports due to the war.