Militants have blown up Yemen's main oil export pipeline, local officials reported Wednesday, adding that the attack has halted crude flows.
Other gunmen reportedly attacked electricty lines causing a widespread power outage across the majority of Yemen's northern cities, Reuters reported.
As of yet, no group has claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attacks, which are believed to be linked, but Yemeni tribesmen have previously damaged oil pipelines and powerlines. Militants linked to extemist Sunni group Al Qaeda, which has a strong presence in Yemen, have also been known to carry out such attacks, according to Reuters.
The attacks, which took place late on Tuesday and early Wednesday morning, come at the same time as a major offensive launched by Yemen's government forces in the country's mountainous southern areas resulted in a main militant stronghold - believed to belong to Al Qaeda - being captured.
The oil pipeline was bombed twice in less than 12 hours late on Tuesday in an area between the central Maarib province and Yemen's capital Sanaa, the local officials told Reuters. Maarib province has been subject to dozens of attacks since 2011.
