The United Nations on Thursday decried the killing of a pregnant journalist in Yemen’s southern port city of Aden.

In a Twitter post, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen Hans Grundberg called for the safety of journalists.

“We are saddened by the loss of our dear colleague and journalist Rasha al-Harazi in an attack that also seriously injured her husband, Mahmoud al Otmi in Aden,” Grundberg tweeted.

Condemning the attack, he noted that the journalist was a UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) trainee in 2019.

On Tuesday, media outlets Aden Time and The Eighth Day, which are believed to be close to Yemen's separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), reported that an explosion targeting a car in Aden’s Khor Maksar district killed journalist al-Harazi and injured her husband.

Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdul-Malik ordered the security authorities to investigate the incident.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Ibrahim Haidan accused Houthi rebels of being behind the attack.

The group did not respond to the minister’s accusations. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

Yemen is ranked 169 out of 180 countries on World Press Freedom Index in 2021.

The STC, which is backed by the United Arab Emirates, controls Aden in defiance of the legitimate Yemeni government.

For years, the city has witnessed frequent bombings and assassinations.

Yemen has been engulfed by violence and instability since 2014, when Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including Sanaa.

A Saudi-led coalition aimed at reinstating the Yemeni government has worsened the situation, causing one of the world’s worst man-made humanitarian crises with 233,000 people killed, nearly 80% or about 30 million needing humanitarian assistance and protection, and more than 13 million in danger of starving to death, according to UN estimates.

Source: Anadolu Agency