Yemeni warplanes raided early Sunday areas in Marib province a day after an Al-Qaeda ambush that killed a key military officer and seven others including local security officers, local sources told the Yemen Post.
A citizen was killed during the raids in the Wadi Abida district where tribal saboteurs have repeatedly attacked the Marib-Ras Isa oil pipeline since last month.
The ambush yesterday was carried out while the victims were patrolling the area to prevent more attacks on the pipeline.
The airstrikes were focused on suspected areas where Al-Qaeda militants are living in Marib, according to the sources.
In late last month, tribesmen bombed the Marib oil pipeline shortly after completing the repairs in the notorious Wadi Abida district forcing the army to shell it killing two suspected saboteurs.
Separately, Almasdar Online reported a fresh explosion has hit the natural gas pipeline in the southeastern Shabwa province, but Yemen LNG and the oil and minerals ministry declined to comment.
The website quoted local sources as saying they heard big explosions in the Usailan area and saw fire flames at the pipeline.
Yemen's oil and gas pipelines have been repeatedly attacked in the past few years mostly by tribal saboteurs and Al-Qaeda militants.
Two of the country's three oil pipelines have been out of commission in Marib and Shabwa due to repeated attacks since last month.
And the Balhaf LNG plant restarted early this month after the shutdown because of a late October attack on the pipeline, which carries natural gas from Block 18 in Marib to the plant in Shabwa.