A high-ranking military commander was killed Thursday in Marib governorate after he was seriously wounded during clashes with tribesmen who bombed an oil pipeline.

Colonel Ali al-Asadi, commander of the Tank Battalion of  the 312 Brigade and a number of soldiers were killed, and another colonel, Saleh al-Bokair, was wounded, military sources affirmed.  

The sources affirmed that the armed men shot an RPG shell on a vehicle carrying troops after a pipeline was attacked, pointing out that the clashes are still ongoing.

A number of Yemeni soldiers were previously killed by tribesmen in the restive government of Marib after the government directed to use force against those who assault oil pipelines and electricity installations.

Oil pipelines has been attacked on lately of Tuesday, a fourth attack since the begging of November.

Armed tribesmen, along with al-Qaeda militants, repeatedly target oil and gas facilities in attempts to blackmail or put pressures on the interim government.

Gas and oil pipelines are frequently attacked in the remote governorate of Marib and other areas amid allegations that remnants of the former regime are behind the attacks.

High-ranking Yemeni politicians including the head of the Joint Meeting Party, Sultan Al-Atwani, had accused the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and his aides of blowing up oil and gas pipelines.

Yemen's electricity supplies have been damaged many times since the eruption of the eleven-month-old protests. Yemen have lost billions of rials as a result of recurring attacks.