Assassination of Al-Arabiya journalist highlights tensions in southern Yemen Submitted by Carolina Pedrazzi on Tue, 06/30/2026 - 10:08 Analysts point to both the Houthis and UAE-backed STC as possible culprits in the killing of Mohammed Aydah Mohammed Aydah delivers a piece to camera from Yemen (CPJ) Off On the evening of 24 June, Al Arabiya and Al Hadath correspondent Mohammed Aydah started his car outside his family's home in Mukalla, the capital of Yemen's eastern Hadramaut governorate, when an IED planted under his driver's seat detonated.  He had just dropped his family off at home and was on his way to meet a friend. The blast set his vehicle ablaze on Sitteen Street, near the Pakistani School in central Mukalla.  The 40-year-old was killed instantly. Local security authorities had warned Aydah roughly a month earlier that his life was under threat, urging him to take those warnings seriously.  He had been working as a freelance photographer and correspondent for Saudi state-owned Al Arabiya since 2019, covering political, security and development stories across eastern Yemen.