Yemen tribesman block highway to protest rising prices

By Ali Oweida

MAARIB, Yemen (AA) - Armed tribesmen on Thursday blocked a major thoroughfare in eastern Yemen to protest a sharp rise in the price of locally-manufactured oil products, according to a local tribal source.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said tribesmen had blocked an international highway linking Maarib to Yemen’s eastern provinces and Saudi Arabia.

According to the same source, the move has brought commercial traffic in Maarib’s northern Al-Wadi directorate to a halt.

A source from the state-run Yemen Petroleum Company (YPC), meanwhile, speaking anonymously due to restrictions on talking to media, said the road blockage had forced the company to temporarily halt oil sales.

On Monday, YPC raised its prices for locally-manufactured oil derivatives -- including gasoline and diesel fuel -- by more than 30 percent in the Maarib, Hadhramaut, Al-Jawf and Shabwa provinces.

It attributed the move to rising international oil prices and increasing production costs.

The ongoing conflict in Yemen, which began almost four years ago, has had a profoundly negative impact on the national economy.