Yemen missile seriously wounds AFP photographer

A local photographer who works with AFP was seriously wounded in a missile strike on Sunday in southwest Yemen, his colleagues said.

Saleh al-Obeidi was in an armoured car with a pro-government officer when their vehicle was struck by a heat-guided missile near the government-held Red Sea town of Mokha, a journalist said.

The two wounded men were evacuated by helicopter for medical treatment, he added.

Another journalist said Obeidi suffered severe burns to his face and hands.

It was not immediately possible to identify the source of the missile.

Yemen's war has pitted pro-government forces against Iran-backed Huthi rebels and their allies, renegade troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

A Saudi-led coalition including the United Arab Emirates intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to help the government retake the capital Sanaa and swathes of the country's north and west from rebel forces.

Clashes have raged around Mokha in recent weeks as pro-government forces push a major offensive to drive rebels from the lengthy Red Sea coastline.

The United Nations says fighting in Yemen has killed more than 7,700 people over the past two years.

At least eight journalists were killed there in 2016, according to the International Federation of Journalists.