A pipeline linking block 18 to the Balhaf liquefaction plant on the Gulf of Aden has been blown up. The explosion took place early this morning and halted all supplies to the Yemen LNG export plant, according to government officials quoted by China’s Xinhua agency. The attack is the latest in a string of similar incidents this year.It comes against a backdrop of mounting local opposition to what is described as the sale of the LNG at below market prices and intensifying battles between the security forces and Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents, the latter having occupied a number of strategic towns near the pipeline.