Assassination of Al-Arabiya journalist highlights tensions in southern Yemen

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Al-Arabiya journalist Mohammed Aydah was assassinated by an IED in Mukalla, Yemen, highlighting escalating tensions between various factions including the Houthis and UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council. The attack has drawn investigations and condemnation amid the complex Yemeni conflict.

Assassination of Al-Arabiya journalist highlights tensions in southern Yemen 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. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); His reporting on demonstrations by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) and his documentation of that authority's conduct had made him enemies. At the time of writing, no group from Yemen's fragmented political landscape has claimed responsibility.  The Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), backed by Saudi Arabia and based in Aden, condemned the attack. Salem Ahmed Al-Khanbashi, the governor of Hadramaut and the general who led the military recapture of the region from the STC in early January, ordered an investigation. Prime Minister Shaya Mohsen al-Zindani directed the Interior Ministry and security agencies to identify those responsible. 'We are a project of peace, not death. If we were going to create chaos, we would target Saudi-backed officials, not a journalist' - STC National Assembly member A spokesperson for the now fractuous and disputedly dissolved STC was quick to blame Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and other armed groups. The accusation was widely questioned. Issuing prior threats is not consistent with AQAP's modus operandi, which tends toward sudden, unclaimed violence rather than forewarned targeting of specific individuals. The statement was also read as political opportunism: by attributing the killing to "terrorist" groups, the STC implicitly argued that such groups had been kept in check during its own rule. A member of the STC's National Assembly, who did not wish to be named, pushed back against accusations of involvement. "It is true that we consider Saudi Arabia a major enemy, as it has been damaging the south, but that doesn't mean we will assassinate or welcome the assassination of a civilian journalist," he told MEE. "We are a project of peace, not death. If we were going to create chaos, we would target Saudi-backed officials, not a journalist." He argued instead that the Saudi-backed governor and the Aden government had "failed to maintain security", noting that "in just six months, we have heard of several assassinations in the south: terrorists didn’t dare to create chaos during the STC’s regime, but today they move freely in the south and try to create chaos here and there.” The Houthis, who control Sanaa and have fought the Saudi-led coalition for over a decade, condemned the assassination through their Al Masirah channel without assigning blame, while using the incident to highlight instability in government-held areas. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Ibrahmi Jalal, a senior Yemen and Gulf analyst, told MEE both the STC and Houthis had reasons to resent Aydah's coverage. “When we look at the landscape and examine who might have access to sleeping cells and sabotage activities with the intent to disrupt and undermine the stability of government-held areas, there are two primary actors: the Houthis and the quote-unquote self-dissolved STC," he said. Repeated assassinations The killing of Mohammed Aydah is not an isolated event. Since the STC's military defeat and its highly contested dissolution between late December 2025 and January 2026, targeted political assassinations in southern Yemen have risen markedly. In May, Wesam Qaid, CEO of the Social Fund for Development, was abducted and killed in Aden. In April, Abdulrahman Al Shaer, an educator and senior Islah party member, was assassinated. In January, an attempted assassination targeted Salafi brigadier general Hamdi Shukri, now commanding a vast military region in the south. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Baraa Shiban, a senior Yemeni political analyst, noted that in the Al Shaer case arrests were made of a cell linked to the former counterterrorism units: one of the main units that operated under the umbrella of the STC. 'Whoever targeted Mohammed wanted to silence him