Under a Brotherhood military cover… makeshift refineries in Wadi Hadramout, a black hole for looting wealth
The scandal of “makeshift refineries” in Wadi Hadramout has resurfaced, once again exposing the scale of collusion and systematic corruption in the management of the province’s resources. Evidence indicates that military units affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, “which dominates decision-making in the valley,” provide direct protection to these illegal facilities.
Field reports cited by the Aden Time website confirmed that the operations carried out in these primitive refineries do not occur out of sight of the authorities; rather, they are conducted under tight protection from forces of the First Military Region, loyal to the Brotherhood. These forces have turned the “military uniform” into a cover to secure the transport of trucks carrying looted crude oil from oil fields to secret refining sites in the valley.
The reports also revealed that southern forces were the first to uncover this file. Resistance units and southern forces submitted intelligence reports documented with dates and coordinates, warning of the continued silence of influential authorities within the then “legitimate government” regarding these facilities. They also highlighted the use of revenues from refined oil sold on black markets as financial cover to fund suspicious activities aimed at destabilizing Hadramout and the South, while plundering the people’s resources to enrich “oil tycoons” affiliated with the group, as the province’s residents endure severe fuel and electricity crises.
Observers believe that keeping the findings of the investigation into this case within a “black box” and ignoring the warnings of southern forces places the military powers dominating the valley under direct accusations of “high treason” against the will of the people. While citizens suffer from poverty, their wealth is being smuggled through makeshift refineries operating under the watch of “Brotherhood forces,” which have chosen to protect the corrupt at the expense of sovereignty and national interest.
Today, public opinion in Hadramout asserts that the “makeshift refineries” file will not pass without holding accountable the key figures who orchestrated this scheme, stressing the need to empower the province’s residents and their southern forces to manage and secure their resources away from the dominance of ideological forces that drain the land’s wealth for their own agendas.
