A pregnant Yemeni journalist who was campaigning against a policy of disposing hundreds of civilian bodies in the sea has been killed in a car bomb attack.
Muna Baksh died as the result of a car bomb attack on Friday in the province of Al Majalla, officials said, but her exact death toll remains unclear. She was a popular TV presenter, according to the country’s local news outlets, and had been outspoken about the practice of disposing of hundreds of bodies in the sea.
Yemen has been rocked by civil war and a humanitarian crisis since 2011. Over 2,100 civilians have been killed since May 2015, when a coalition led by Saudi Arabia began bombing the country, according to the United Nations. Baksh was one of hundreds of civilians killed since the Saudi-led airstrikes began.
Baksh said she was campaigning against the practice of disposing the bodies of hundreds of civilians in the sea. Her son was diagnosed with cancer at six months pregnant.
As a result of the blockade, the country has been gripped by famine, with 57 percent of children suffering from acute malnutrition. Millions of people have gone to bed hungry during the war.
The UN has warned the situation was headed toward “catastrophe” and in late July said Yemen has the largest humanitarian catastrophe in the world, affecting 22 million people.
But the government in Sanaa has said that it was not the coalition or their allies that were responsible for the humanitarian catastrophe, but “terrorists and armed thugs,” the government website Al Farouk said. The statement said the blockade was aimed at restoring security, in light of the terrorists’ operations.
“The people and the authorities in Yemen will continue to confront those who resort to terrorism and killing with patience and resolute determination, so that the security and stability of our country is restored and the national institutions operate freely and unharmed by anyone,” the statement said.
The coalition says it has been carrying out airstrikes against the terrorist group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in support of Yemeni forces, according to Al Farouk.