Aden (South24 Center)

The Shabwa Defense Forces, part of the Southern forces, announced on Friday (October 2) that they had seized an illegal site used to process smuggled fuel oil into diesel in Dahr District in northeastern Shabwa Governorate and arrested two suspects.

The forces’ media center said a unit from the First Brigade carried out a raid on the site, securing it and seizing machinery, equipment, storage facilities and a vehicle used in refining and smuggling operations.

The First Brigade commander said the operation followed intelligence monitoring of individuals from outside the governorate who, he said, were involved in processing fuel oil into diesel and smuggling petroleum products.

The Shabwa Defense Forces’ leadership said the operation was part of efforts to protect the governorate’s resources and counter illegal activities. It stressed that it would not tolerate any group or individuals seeking to undermine Shabwa’s security or tamper with its residents’ rights and resources.

In a separate statement published by Yemen’s Interior Ministry, the ministry said the seized equipment included pumps, a network of pipes, tanks and a complete set of equipment for illegal refining. It added that the equipment belonged to a person assisted by two workers, all of whom reside in Al-Khasha’a in neighboring Hadramout Governorate.

The ministry said security personnel had begun inventorying and securing the seized items and gathering evidence ahead of referring the case and suspects to the Public Prosecution. The statements did not disclose the suspects’ identities or the quantities of fuel seized. The ministry also raised concerns about the sources of the raw materials and how they were being used.

The operation follows the discovery of similar facilities in Wadi Hadramout less than a year ago. On December 24, 2025, the Fifth Support and Reinforcement Brigade of the Southern Armed Forces announced that it had seized four illegal facilities used to refine, extract and smuggle petroleum products in Al-Khasha’a.

The brigade’s leadership said at the time that the facilities belonged to influential figures from northern governorates. It confirmed that workers at the sites had been detained and referred to the relevant authorities for further investigation and legal proceedings.

According to officers in the brigade’s command, the smuggling networks used underground pits and buried tanks to collect crude oil before transferring it to makeshift refineries. The fuel was then loaded and transported at night to black markets, with the networks exploiting the valley’s vast expanse and desert terrain to evade detection.

On the same day, Prosecutor General Judge Qaher Mustafa Ali directed the head of the Public Funds Appeals Prosecution in Hadramout to open an urgent, comprehensive investigation into the unlicensed oil refineries discovered in Al-Khasha’a.

According to a Public Prosecution statement, the directives called for expanding the investigation to include operators, financiers, backers and those shielding the activities, as well as any public official or institution found to have been involved, negligent or complicit in facilitating them.

The prosecution described the activities as serious crimes because of their direct harm to the economy and public funds, as well as the risks they posed to public safety, the environment and residents’ health, given that they operated outside established safety, technical and environmental standards.

The seizures came weeks after the Southern Armed Forces announced on December 3 that they had driven First Military Region forces from their positions in Wadi Hadramout and its surrounding desert as part of Operation “Promising Future.” The forces said the operation aimed to reorganize military and security arrangements, secure key locations and prevent the exploitation of resources outside official channels.

However, these efforts were subsequently disrupted by Saudi aerial intervention against Southern forces, which reshaped military and political arrangements in Wadi Hadramout and prevented the completion of investigations into smuggling networks, illegal refineries and those providing them with protection.

Despite the months that have passed since the Al-Khasha’a refineries were seized and a comprehensive investigation was ordered, the Public Prosecution has not announced its findings, identified the financiers and organizers or disclosed the transport and marketing channels. Nor has it clarified whether judicial proceedings have resulted in those involved being held accountable.