Yemen denies oil pipeline damage from Aden explosion

Yemeni official sources on Sunday denied that damage to oil pipelines linking a refinery to oil storage reservoirs, resulted from an explosion near oil facilities in Aden.

In statements to reporters on Sunday, Aden security chief Muhammad Saleh Tureiq said: "What happened was that a grenade exploded at the location and nothing resulted except a loud noise that did not cause any damage worth mentioning." Tureiq added that persons who were arrested to be investigated in connection with the incident were released.

In a similar statement, director-general of the Yemeni Oil Company, Youssef Qasem Quleiqal, said the news reports claiming that the explosion had punctured the oil pipelines are mere "lies and lacked credibility."

Eyewitnesses in the area said that the explosion which took place on Friday damaged an area of the fuel pipeline facility, but it was not clear whether the fuel line was damaged or not.