Blasts Hit Oil Pipeline in Yemen

Two bomb blasts have struck a pipeline that links Yemen's eastern oil fields with terminals on the Red Sea, officials said on Monday.

Both explosions hit the pipeline in the eastern province of Marib late Sunday, causing partial damage and disrupting the flow of oil, a security official told Agence France Presse on condition of anonymity.

A team of technicians was repairing the damage.

An official in the region confirmed the attacks, saying the blasts took place "some 500 meters apart" and that "unknown assailants" were responsible.

Gas and oil pipelines have been a regular target for sabotage attacks in the impoverished southern Arabian Peninsula nation, which relies on its modest exports as a main source of revenue.

Yemen had lost more than $4 billion (3.1 billion euros) in revenues since February 2011 due to the attacks, Petroleum and Minerals Minister Hisham Abdullah said in early July.