Yemeni journalist Mohamed Aida killed by bomb planted under car seat in Mukalla, says Saudi channel Al Arabiya.
AL MUKALLA: A bomb planted under the seat of his car killed a journalist working for a Saudi media outlet in eastern Yemen, his employer reported.
The blast left the car of Yemeni journalist Mohamed Aida burnt out in a downtown area of Mukalla, a major city on the country’s south coast.
The father of four was alone in the vehicle after driving his family home, Riyadh-based television channel Al Arabiya said late Wednesday.
The channel said security services in Mukalla had warned Aida a month ago about threats to his life.
Mukalla is the capital of Yemen’s Hadramawt province and was at the centre of an offensive in December by forces from the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC).
The STC has been battling for territory against forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognised government.
Backed by the United Arab Emirates, the STC seized control of Hadramawt and neighbouring Mahra province last year before being driven back by Saudi airstrikes and government ground forces backed by Riyadh.
Rashad al-Alimi, the president of Yemen’s Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council, ordered an investigation into the attack on Aida, according to the official Saba news agency.
Aida had been working as a cameraman and correspondent for Al Arabiya in eastern Yemen since 2019.
The channel said he had already been targeted in 2018, escaping an attempted arrest by armed men in the capital Sanaa.
A number of media workers have been killed or have disappeared since the start of Yemen’s civil war more than a decade ago.
Although the country has experienced a lull in violence since a UN-brokered truce between warring factions in 2022, it remains plagued by chronic instability and faces a major humanitarian crisis.
Press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranks Yemen 164th out of 180 countries for media freedom.
