Aden, Nov 29 Armed tribal groups loyal to local factions deployed around a key oil facility in Yemen's eastern province of Hadramout on Saturday, heightening tensions in one of the country's key energy regions, a security official said.
"Armed tribal groups were deployed near a number of oil facilities and began besieging PetroMasila's Sector 14 oil site in Hadramout," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"Tensions are extremely high. Armed, masked gunmen have taken positions around the facility, blocking all access routes, raising the risk of a confrontation with the Hadrami Elite Forces of the Yemeni government," the source said.
"Intelligence suggests that some tribal factions have secretly coordinated with elements linked to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to destabilise Hadramout and undermine the pro-government forces," the source added, Xinhua news agency reported.
The siege of the oil facility followed a late-Thursday declaration by tribal leaders granting their fighters full authority to "resist by all means" to defend Hadramout and its natural resources.
In recent days, tribal fighters have escalated operations across the province, setting up unauthorized checkpoints, seizing oil sites, blocking key transport routes, and commandeering fuel supplies.
The militants accused the Hadrami Elite Forces of conducting "dangerous movements" in the province and vowed to take "decisive" countermeasures, citing chronic mismanagement of public services and worsening living conditions in Hadramout.
In response to the escalation, Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council on Thursday appointed Salem al-Khanbashi as Hadramout's new Governor, according to the state-run Saba news agency.
Although Hadramout has remained under the internationally recognised government, backed by a Saudi-led military coalition that intervened in Yemen's conflict in 2015, the government's authority in the province now faces its most serious challenge in years.
In 2016, local Hadrami forces, trained under the Arab Coalition and the United Arab Emirates, liberated Mukalla, the province's provisional capital, from al-Qaeda, ending a year of the group's control that began in 2015.
During its rule, al-Qaeda established a self-declared administration in Mukalla and amassed significant financial gains, including through the takeover of the central bank branch.
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