Anger, clashes in Yemen’s Aden over electricity cuts

The city of Aden in southern Yemen has been experiencing electricity cuts this week, leading to popular anger and clashes with police as locals suffer under high temperatures. 

What happened: Images circulated on social media as early as Sunday showing Aden, located on the coast of the eponymous Gulf, in darkness, and the Arabic-language hashtag “Aden without electricity” trended on X from Monday through Wednesday.

The Associated Press reported on Thursday that protesters have been blocking roads and setting tires on fire in central Yemen in a protest against electricity shortages as temperatures reached 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius).

Temperatures had cooled somewhat to 90 °F (32 °C) as of 9:30 p.m. local time on Thursday, though AccuWeather noted the real feel was 102 °F (39 °C). Aden is projected to have a high of 93 °F on Friday, with temperatures expected to soar to more than 105 °F (41 °C) starting on Thursday, according to the weather service.

Security forces were deployed to disperse the protests on Monday and Tuesday, beating demonstrators and blocking some streets in the process, according to the AP.

Videos of fires and gunshots were posted on X on Monday.

In an interview with Yemen TV on Wednesday, Prime Minister Ahmad Awad bin Mubarak apologized for the electricity issues.

“I apologize to the people. I sincerely realize and feel the people’s suffering from electricity cuts lasting 15 and 16 hours,” he told the outlet.

Mubarak added that electricity was not managed in a “proper way” in the past, saying a negligible amount was spent on investment and maintenance last year. Mubarak took office in February of this year.

Aden is administered by the Southern Transitional Council (STC). The council formed in 2017, advocates for the secession of southern Yemen and is backed by the United Arab Emirates.

Prime Minister Mubarak has an internationally recognized, Saudi-backed government, and the STC is formally aligned with his government against the Iran-backed Houthis in the Yemeni civil war. The STC and the government clashed in the years following the council’s formation, though tensions reduced after the STC joined the Yemeni government’s Presidential Leadership Council in 2022.

Know more: Aden’s electricity problems are not new. According to a November report from Human Rights Watch, Aden residents have “experienced frequent and increasingly common restrictions on, and shutoffs of, water and electricity.”

Yemen is experiencing one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. Last month, a Houthi official warned of “dangerous stages of famine” in the country.