A Yemeni journalist died when a bomb exploded in his car in Aden, south Yemen, a country ravaged by more than seven years of war, an official said Thursday.
The conflict in Yemen pits power backed by neighboring Saudi Arabia against Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Armed groups, including al-Qaeda, are also active there.
Unknown persons “placed an explosive device in the car of journalist Saber Al-Haidari, who works for various foreign media outlets,” the government security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The car exploded as the journalist was driving home in central Aden late Wednesday night. According to this officer, the blow killed him and others in the vehicle were injured.
This attack is reminiscent, he added, of the November 2021 killing of journalist Racha Abdallah, who was also killed in the explosion of her husband’s car, Mahmoud Al-Atmi, also a journalist who was injured in the attack.
Both attacks were not alleged.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) confirmed Saber Al-Haidari’s death “after explosive devices were planted under his car”.
Yemeni power settled in Aden after being expelled from the capital Sanaa by the Houthis in 2015.
According to the UN, the war, which was triggered by a rebel offensive in 2014, has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced millions. It caused one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.
In Yemen, foreign media rely almost exclusively on local correspondents, who face multiple threats.
According to the RSF, journalists are sometimes kidnapped by the Houthis, al-Qaeda and even the government. They are also targeted by “attacks, assassinations and death threats” from “militia”.