Yemeni journalist killed by car bomb in Aden

A Yemeni journalist was killed when his car exploded while he was driving in the southern port city of Aden, an official said Thursday, the latest such attack in the seat of Yemen’s internationally recognized government.

Information Minister Moammar al-Iryani said an improvised explosive device had been planted in the car of Saber al-Haidari, an employee with the ministry who also worked for Japan’s NHK television network. It exploded late Wednesday, killing him.

He said in a series of posts on Twitter that al-Haidari had fled the capital, Sanaa, in 2017 due to increasing restrictions by the Iran-backed Houthi militia who hold the city. No group claimed responsibility immediately for the attack.

The coastal city of Aden has been rocked by several explosions in recent years that were blamed on local affiliates of the al-Qaida and ISIS militant groups. The Houthis have also attacked the city, including with ballistic missiles and explosives-laden drones.

In November, a Yemeni journalist and her child were killed in an explosion that targeted her family’s vehicle in Aden. The city has been the seat of the internationally recognized government since the Houthis took over Sanaa in 2014, triggering Yemen’s civil war.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels overran the capital Sanaa in 2014, prompting president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi and his loyalists to flee to Aden and then into exile in Saudi Arabia.

Yemeni journalists covering the conflict face threats of retribution from all sides. These include from the extremists of Al Qaeda as well as the rebels and government loyalists, RSF said. "Militias subject them to violence and abuse, and they risk being the targets of death threats, murder or bombings," the watchdog said.