The saboteurs struck in the Al-Hadhina district, just two kilomtres (a little over a mile) from the Balhaf terminal on the Gulf of Aden, disrupting its operations, a Shabwa provincial official told AFP, asking not to be identified.
"Following the attack, operations were halted in several parts of the terminal," the official said without elaborating.
Huge columns of flame and plumes of smoke were visible from as far as 25 kilometres (15 miles) away, witnesses told AFP. There was no immediate claim for the attack but the provincial official said he thought it was likely to have been an Al-Qaeda attack carried out in retaliation for apparent US air strikes in Shabwa on
Friday that killed seven suspected jihadists, including a son of US-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaqi. "I think it is a response to the air strikes," the official said.
The 320 kilometre (200 mile) gas pipeline links fields in Marib province further north with Balhaf in Shabwa. Yemen began exports of liquefied natural gas from the terminal in November 2009.
Both provinces are strongholds of Al-Qaeda.
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