Aden (South24)

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Angry protesters burned tires on the streets of the capital Aden, South Yemen, on Wednesday night and Thursday morning to denounce the severe electricity crisis that has halted water and sanitation services and hit communications services.

The protests were held mostly in Al-Mansoura district of Aden, and spread in the morning to the Sheikh Othman and Al-Mualla districts. The protests led to road closures for hours before security forces intervened to extinguish the fires.

#BREAKING

Protests erupted in Al-Mansoura district of #Aden Governorate due to water and electricity outages and a service crisis#south24 pic.twitter.com/R0K91yRFxM

— South24 | English (@South24E) February 5, 2025

The protests came as a result of the electricity crisis reaching its peak and all stations stopping work for more than 30 hours, as a result of fuel depletion and the interruption of fuel supplies from Hadramout Governorate.

The Hadramout Tribes Confederacy had announced on February 3 that they would suspend the export of crude oil from the governorate, including those designated for Aden Electricity, in order to pressure the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) regarding their human rights and political demands.

The General Electricity Corporation appealed to the Yemeni government and the Hadramout Tribes Confederacy to provide fuel. On Tuesday, it announced that all stations had stopped working, including the largest PetroMasila station in Aden.

The Yemeni Council of Ministers, in a statement said that Prime Minister (PM) Ahmed bin Mubarak has directed that the pumping of fuel be increased from the Safer fields in Marib to feed stations in Aden as an emergency solution, and to restore electricity.

The statement said that PM bin Mubarak contacted the governor of the Central Bank of Yemen, the ministers of finance and electricity, and the governor of Aden to discuss restoring the electricity service and implementing emergency solutions.

The statement, quoting bin Mubarak, said: "The government is working with all its efforts to implement real and sustainable reforms in the electricity sector. The continuation of the crisis in the electricity sector will significantly impact the state budget.”

In a separate meeting, the PLC Chairman, Rashad Al-Alimi, discussed solutions to the electricity crisis with the prime minister, the ministers of finance, oil, electricity, water, and the governor of Aden.

The Saba news agency said that the meeting was attended by the director of electricity in Aden, Salem Al-Walidi. The popular protests were discussed, as well as avoiding a recurrence of the fuel crisis and a complete power outage.

The electricity crisis is the most prominent service crisis affecting South Yemen. It is not limited to Aden only, but includes all the Southern governorates. This crisis has triggered widespread protests in previous years.

The South Yemeni governorates are also experiencing a dire economic situation as a result of the collapse in the value of the local currency to the US dollar, which reached 2,280 rials for the first time in history today, in the markets of Aden and Hadramout.