Minister of Electricity Saleh Sumaia has strongly slammed the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, accusing him of leading a gang that attacks power lines linking between the capital Sana' and Marib governorate.
In a speech delivered in a Yemeni university on Monday, he affirmed that Saleh heads five persons who rotate to attack power towers in Marib, asserting that all the attackers of power were identified and that Saleh is their leader.
He said that the Electricity Ministry lost about YR 30 billion as a result of repeated attacks against power lines.
The Yemeni capital has been living in darkness for two days due to the halt of the Marib gas-operated station that was subjected frequent sabotage acts only in the past two days.
Many of Yemeni politicians and analysts accuse supporters of the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh of targeting power lines in order to hamper the interim government.
BBC correspondent in Yemen once said attacks against power lines were carried out by armed men affiliated to the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
According to government statistics, power lines in were subjected to more than 170 attacks since the outbreak of pro-democracy protests in February 2011.
The Saudi Development Fund is to grant the Yemeni government SR 270 million for the electricity and energy fields under agreement that was singed in Riyadh on May 24.
The grant aims at reducing the sharp shortage of power and improve power services in Yemen.
Electricity crisis had led to the paralysis of factories, laboratories, workshops and many service sectors, pushing further Yemenis to unemployment.