A missile attack on the largest facility for producing liquefied gas in Yemen, which Emirati forces use it as a base on the Arabian Sea, raised on Monday, a controversy over the identity of the executer, at a time when reactions on the attack continued amid warnings of targeting gas tanks.
UAE-backed transitional council accused Islah party of masterminding the attack. Former STC spokesman Salem Thabet Al-Awlaki linked the attack to what he described as “Brotherhood incitement” against the facility. The council also considered the simultaneous attack with the force’s movement in Abyan towards the strongholds of UAE-followers in Aden as messages through which Islah party factions supported by Qatar – Turkey axis try to pressure UAE to give Islah influence in Shabwah and perhaps prevent the warplanes raids.
Unlike STC, which is trying to find a foothold in this oil province, which represents a hinge in its struggle with its opponents on “legitimacy” There are independent activists who go far by describing the recent attack as being in the context of the conflict between Saudi Arabia and UAE, especially as it coincided with STC supporters in Aden surrounding the camp of Saudi forces in Bir Ahmed under the pretext of demanding services and the departure of these forces, which they accused them of preparing a plot against the South and his country, most likely the attacks pointed to Saudi message that any escalation in Aden may be matched by another escalation in Shabwah.
Regardless of who is behind the conflict, whether it is a local or a foreign party, there are clear concerns that the facility, which forms the backbone of the Yemeni economy, is a target to a Saudi-Emirati-Qatari plan that worked over the past years of war to target infrastructure sectors until it brought Yemen to the brink of Collapse with the aim of starving Yemeni people and bringing them to their knees.
These concerns emerged from the words of Sana’a governor in Shabwah, Ahmed al-Amir, who warned from the repercussions on such a facility and held the coalition responsible of that.
STC and Emirati media also raised concerns that such attacks took place in the port could affect the gas tanks in the facility and the implications on Shabwah environmentally and economically, in a move described by observers as an indirect threat to explode these gas tanks if the attack continues.
