Saudi-led coalition heavily targeting Yemeni energy sector: Sanaa

• 

The Electricity and Energy Ministry in the Sanaa government exposed Tuesday the Saudi-led coalition of aggression for the damages it inflicted on the Yemeni energy sector and the country's infrastructure during the war it has been waging on the gulf state over the past eight years.

"278 recorded precision air strikes have affected the energy sector with all its facilities, and more than 800 airstrikes have been launched on the vicinity of energy facilities, dealing grave damages [to the sector]," the energy ministry said in a statement.

"83 employees in the electricity sector have been martyred [due to the aggression], and more than 300 others have been wounded," the statement added.

The damages inflicted due to the coalition's crimes, which have affected the energy sector in Yemen, amount to approximately $24 billion, the ministry revealed.

Check out: The looted oil and gas from Yemen

Energy Minister Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti said the country's electric infrastructure had been subjected to systemic destruction by the Saudi-led coalition, rendering the whole sector out of service.

"Electricity and energy are the backbone of life in terms of its service and industrial sectors, and the destruction of this sector constitutes a war crime," Al-Bukhaiti said. "The estimated losses of the energy sector are preliminary, and there are vast costs due to the expensive nature of energy facilities."

The director of the Public Electricity Company, Hashim Al-Shami, said his facility made several attempts to put back into service and restore the salvageable power stations, and it has made huge strides in terms of maintenance and is continuing to do so.

"The blockade and the scarce capabilities made it less possible to find alternative, swift solutions to bring back power, and we are currently using the means available to us," Al-Shami added.

The President of the Supreme Political Council in Yemen, Mahdi Al-Mashat, met Friday with the Minister of Public Works Ghaleb Mutlaq and the Director of Programs at the United Nations Office for Project Services, Khaldoun Salem.

During the meeting, the three touched on aspects related to the collapse of the road network due to the brutal US aggression and the looting of the Yemeni people's oil and gas wealth that used to contribute to the maintenance of the road network.

In addition to Washington's complicity in the aggression Riyadh has been waging against the people of Yemen, the Saudi-led coalition has been plundering the natural resources of Yemen by seizing its diesel ships despite them having permits, plunging the country deep into the darkness.

The Yemeni Petroleum Company (YPC) in Sanaa said that "the coalition of aggression is seizing a diesel ship despite obtaining entry permits from the United Nations, in a new violation of the temporary armistice."

The YCP spokesperson Essam Al-Mutawakel pointed out that "the UN envoy has not been committed, since the start of the armistice, to removing obstacles and allowing the entry of the ships agreed upon."

The truce in effect in Yemen since last April 2, which was also extended on June 2, stipulates the suspension of military offensives by land, sea, and air in Yemen and across its borders, in addition to facilitating the entry of ships carrying fuel to Al-Hudaydah ports in western Yemen.

On August 2, the United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said the warring parties agreed on extending the truce for an extra two months per the same conditions with the aim of maintaining negotiations and reaching a comprehensive truce as soon as possible.