MARIB, March. 4 — A Yemeni citizen blew up an oil pipe in Marib governorate on Friday, over alleged legal demands, a tribal source told the Yemen Times.

Sheikh Ali Minifi, a tribal leader in Marib, told the Yemen Times over the phone that Mohammad Ahmed Tuaiman of Serwah district had blown up the pipe in order to press the government into paying him money for medical treatment.

He said that Tuaiman had traveled to Jordan last year to receive medical treatment for injuries he sustained in clashes with republican guard troops operating in the governorate in 2011.

The sheikh said that the pipe had not yet been repaired, as Tuaiman was denying technical teams entry into the area until his demands are met.

Troops of 112th military brigades, the republican guards responsible for protecting the pipeline have done nothing to arrest the culprits, Sheikh Al-Minfi said.

Saleh Al-Muqri, secretary general of the Serwah local council, condemned the sabotage saying, “The people of Marib renounce such actions and if anyone has demands, he or she has to go through legal means, and not by violence and sabotage.”

He held the security forces guarding the pipeline accountable for the sabotage and demanded that they arrest the saboteurs to prevent any repetition of such incidents.

The Ministry of Interior announced that the culprit was identified as Mohammad Ahmed Hussein Tuaiman of Serwah district. In a press statement posted on the ministry website, it had asked the Middle Military Region Commander to give orders to the 112th army brigade to arrest the saboteur.