Hadramout (South24 Center)

The city of Mukalla, the largest city in Yemen's Hadramout governorate, witnessed angry popular protests on Sunday and Monday denouncing the collapse of basic services, particularly electricity, with daily outages exceeding 12 hours, according to local residents who spoke to South24 Center.

The demonstrations spread to several main streets, where protesters blocked roads and prevented trucks and vehicles from passing, in an escalating protest against what they described as the local authority's failure to manage the crisis. Tensions peaked on Monday morning (July 28) when protesters stormed the governorate's administrative building in Mukalla, amid a lack of tangible government response.

These developments come amid growing tensions between the local authority in Hadramout and the Hadramout Tribal Alliance led by Sheikh Amr bin Habrish, one of the most influential tribal entities in the governorate. The local authority hinted during an official meeting on Sunday that the alliance was behind disruptions in fuel shipments to coastal areas, which it claimed contributed to the worsening of the electricity crisis.

The alliance has denied these accusations, publishing documents showing the movement of fuel tankers and confirming they had not been intercepted. Activists close to the alliance described the accusations as misleading, asserting that the alliance does not obstruct supplies and alleging that the authorities are attempting to cover up their failure in providing basic services.

#BREAKING

A women's protest in #Mukalla to denounce the deteriorating conditions, increasing electricity cuts and deteriorating services#south24 pic.twitter.com/ztEgJYaor1

— South24 | English (@South24E) July 28, 2025

In an official statement on Saturday (July 26), the Hadramout Coast Electricity Corporation warned that coastal cities, particularly Mukalla, could see complete blackouts in the coming days if power plants were not supplied with sufficient fuel.

Residents of Hadramout are facing a severe electricity crisis amid high temperatures and humidity levels in the coastal city.

#BREAKING

South24 correspondent: Protesters gathered in front of Mukalla port gate#south24 pic.twitter.com/3rP6yJfyyz

— South24 | English (@South24E) July 28, 2025

Hadramout is one of Yemen's richest governorates in terms of oil resources, but political divisions and ongoing economic deterioration have caused a sharp decline in public services, including electricity, which plagues most areas of South Yemen.

Over recent months, the Hadramout Tribal Alliance led by bin Habrish has used crude oil as a political and economic pressure card, especially amid growing public dissatisfaction with state of the poor services. On multiple occasions, armed tribesmen have surrounded oil fields and prevented crude oil supplies from reaching Aden's power plants.

Although fuel supplies to Aden's electricity sector have resumed intermittently, the oil issue remains contentious between the central government and the tribal alliance, with no clear agreement on revenue distribution mechanisms or ensuring the needs of oil-producing provinces.

Since October 2022, oil exports from Hadramout have been halted due to Houthi drone attacks targeting the Al-Dabba export terminal in Shihr district.