Yemen: Five members of journalists’ family killed by Coalition bombing

A married couple of two local media workers and their three kids were killed on 9 February in the capital, Sana’a, in an air strike by the Saudi led coalition. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), representing around 600,000 journalists in the world, joins its affiliate, the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS), to mourn the deaths of yet more innocent civilians who are victims of the conflict in Yemen. According to the YJS, journalist and programming Monir al Hakeimi and administrative TV staff Suad Hajerah, both working for the state-owned Yemen TV, and their three kids were killed after their house was bombed by a Saudi led coalition’s air strike on Beit Miaad neighbourhood in Sana’a. “We mourn the loss of these two Yemeni colleagues and their three little kids,” said IFJ President, Jim Boumelha. “Our condolences go out to our union and the journalists’ community in Yemen who have suffered so much during the current conflict.” The same day, Yemen Today TV reporter Sharaf al Shumari and his cameraman Kamal Kadash were shot by a sniper in Hajjah district, north west Sana’a, reports said. The journalist was shot in the hand while he held a microphone and the cameraman was shot in the leg. “The IFJ condemns in the strongest way the targeted attack of the TV crew,” added Boumelha. “This attack is a reflection of the extreme polarization of the Yemeni conflict, in which some armed groups consider the media as a legitimate target. We urge the warring parties to respect the status of civilians the journalists have according to international laws in any armed conflict.” The Federation, highly concerned by the safety of journalists and the incitement against media in Yemen since the beginning of the conflict, will join the YJS, the Federation of Arab Journalists and the Jordanian Press Association in an international conference tackling this issue on 23 February in Amman, Jordan.

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