Sana’a: Yemen police in the western province of Hudaida have seized a large cargo of weapons for the second time in less than a month.
heading to unidentified destination.
Ministry of interior said that a check point at the entrance to Hais town uncovered 7,000 Turkish-made rifles hidden inside a truck. Three people who were in the car were arrested, with police saying they have started an investigation to identify the source of the cargo and the destination in Yemen, which is as yet unknown.
The seizure follows last month’s discovery in the port of Aden, when pistols, also from Turkey, were found in biscuit boxes. Turkey has denied sending the weapons.
Elsewhere, an explosive device went off outside an oil well on Thursday night in a desert area in the southeastern province of Hadramout, local sources said.
A local official from the ministry of oil told Gulf News that preliminary information showed that unknown men planted three bombs near an oil well in a desert area in near the town of Huridha. The field is run by a Canadian oil company called Calvalley Petroleum.
“One of the bombs exploded and soldiers managed to identify the location of the other two bombs and defused them.” the official said.
Witnesses said that the explosion was thunderous and high flames were seen emanating from the well. Yemen oil fields have been targeted by Al Qaida operatives and local tribesmen who are at loggerheads with the government. Mast of these attacks take place in the provinces of Mareb and Shabwa. Last week, the Yemen army launched an offensive on the hideouts of Al Qaida elements in Mareb, who frequently sabotage oil pipelines and the electricity infrastructure.
The Ministry of interior said that it ordered security forces in the provinces of Hadramout and Shabwa, which neighbour Mareb, to tighten security measures and spot any fleeing Al Qaida members.
“The security forces [in the two provinces] were ordered to keep a close eye on government and private hospitals as terrorist elements could take their injured members to these hospitals.” the ministry said in a statement.
