Saber al-Haidari, a reporter with the Japanese state broadcaster NHK, was killed June 15, 2022, when a bomb exploded in his car while he was driving in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden’s al-Mansoura district, killing him at the scene, according to news reports, the press freedom advocacy organization Yemeni Journalists Syndicate, and the regional human rights group Gulf Center for Human Rights.
Two unidentified individuals traveling with al-Haidari were also killed in the blast, and one was injured, according to the Gulf Center. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, according to those news reports.
According to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Al-Haidari also worked in the public relations department of the Yemeni government’s Ministry of Information. Since late 2020, the Yemeni government engaged in a power-sharing deal with the Southern Transitional Council, a secessionist group that controls Aden.
Contacted via messaging app, STC spokesperson Mansour Saleh condemned al-Haidari’s killing and said that the council was investigating, while also calling on the Yemeni government to investigate and take action to protect Yemeni journalists.