South Korean oil company KNOC is scramblng to repair damage today following a bombing by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) against one of their pipelines in Shabwa Province.

The attack is seen by many as retaliation for the Yemeni government’s recent military operations in Shabwa and Marib Province, aimed at trying to track down key AQAP bomb-maker Ibrahim al-Asiri.

Officials say that the bombing required the use of a bulldozer to access the buried pipeline, and the attack was launched in the middle of the desert outside the provincial capital of Ataq City.

KNOC spokesmen say that the pipeline hit was among the smallest in Yemen and should have minimal impact on Yemen’s overall oil export. An attack on such a small site may, however, include an implied threat to target more important sites in Yemen, a nation which can ill-afford to see its economy damaged any more by internal strife.

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