ADEN: Yemen's government and Ansar Allah fighters are escalating an economic war as peace efforts stall, with tit-for-tat moves aimed at disrupting state oil revenues and fuel flows, leading to more humanitarian pain.
The Ansar Allah, de facto authorities in north Yemen, have hampered the internationally recognised government's ability to export oil, a vital revenue source, by launching drone attacks at terminals in the south to deter tankers from loading crude.
The internationally recognised government has hit back, with moves likely to further restrict fuel flows into Ansar Allah-held areas. The Aden central bank issued a circular, dated December 6 and obtained by Reuters, to exchange companies and houses in Yemen to freeze accounts of and halt commercial and financial dealings with 12 companies that import fuel to Ansar Allah-held areas.
The central bank cited "terrorist list" designations and anti-money laundering laws as the basis of its instructions.
"The step came in response to the attacks that the Ansar Allah carried out on oil exporting terminals and which have prevented the export of more than 2 million barrels of crude out of Hadhramaut and Shabwa," an official in the government, who declined to be named, said.
Another government official said other companies would be able to import fuel via Ansar Allah-held Hodeidah port "according to rules regulating imports", without elaborating.
The growing tensions come as UN-led efforts for a new truce deal have stalled for over two months since an earlier pact lapsed, though relative calm on main frontlines has held.
The expanded truce proposed includes a mechanism for payment of civil service wages, which the Ansar Allah has criticised for not including members of the armed forces. The group has also said it is preventing "theft" of Yemen's oil wealth.
"They begrudge our people wages and their legitimate rights and this is a big problem, we will not compromise... They begrudge our people petroleum products, received only after severe hardship," Ansar Allah leader Abdul Malik al Houthi said in a speech.
He warned that the movement would respond to any escalation "with greater force and effectiveness".
The seven-year-old conflict between a military coalition and the Ansar Allah has destroyed Yemen's economy and left 80 per cent of the population reliant on aid, with millions pushed into hunger.
Coalition sea and air restrictions on Ansar Allah areas were eased under the truce that expired on October 2 to allow for some fuel shipments into Hodeidah and commercial flights from Sanaa.
The government, which the Ansar Allah ousted from the capital, Sanaa, in late 2014, was already struggling to pay public wages in the import-reliant country.
The Arab Monetary Fund last month signed a $1 billion agreement with the Aden-based authorities, in what two central bank sources said was part of wider financial assistance dispensed recently to shore up the government. - Reuters
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