A key pipeline linking a refinery and an oil terminal in Yemen's second city of Aden has been severely damaged in a suspected jihadist attack, officials said today.
Firefighters managed to contain a huge blaze that ripped through the pipeline overnight, an official at Aden's main oil refinery told AFP.
The blast did not damage the refinery's storage tanks, located in western Aden, and there were no casualties, the official added.
A security source said that an explosive device detonated by unknown assailants hit the line around 500 metres (yards) from the refinery and three kilometres from the oil terminal.
A brief firefight broke out in the wake of the blast between refinery guards and gunmen, who fled the scene in two vehicles, according to witnesses.
A security official said that either the Islamic State group or Yemen's Al-Qaeda branch could have been behind the attack.
"We are at war with the jihadists and I don't rule out the possibility that the orchestrators of the attack could be supporters of Daesh (IS) or Al-Qaeda," the official said.
Aden is being used as a base for Yemen's government, which was forced to flee the capital Sanaa in September 2014 after Iran-backed Huthi rebels swept into the city.
The Huthis advanced into southern and central Yemen, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to begin air strikes in March on insurgent positions.
Extremist groups have exploited the chaos to spread, mainly in Yemen's vast desert east, and witnesses report that jihadists including IS are active in some Aden neighbourhoods.
More than 5,800 people have been killed in Yemen since the start of the Saudi-led bombing campaign against rebels, about half of them civilians, according to the United Nations.
