Official says Yemeni journalist killed in explosion in Aden

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 Houthi rebels 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-Qaeda and Islamic State militant groups. The Iran-backed 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.

A Saudi-led coalition entered the war in March 2015, backed by the United States, to try restore the government to power.

Despite a relentless air campaign and ground fighting, the war has fallen largely into a stalemate, and spawned one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.