Yemen’s Houthi Rebels Detain At Least 20 UN Staff And Confiscate Equipment
CAIRO (AP) — Iranian-backed Houthi rebels detained two dozen U.N. workers on Sunday, the day after the incident. They raided another UN facility A UN official said he was in the capital Sanaa.
Jean Alam, a spokesman for the U.N. resident coordinator for Yemen, told The Associated Press that U.N. personnel were detained at the facility in Sanaa’s southwestern Hada neighborhood.
He said five Yemeni and 15 international staff were among those detained on Sunday. He said the rebels released 11 more UN officials after interrogation.
He said the UN was in contact with the Houthis and other parties to “resolve this serious situation as quickly as possible, end the detention of all personnel and restore full control over facilities in Sanaa.”
A second U.N. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the raid, said rebels seized all communications equipment at the facility, including phones, servers and computers.
The official said the detained employees belonged to several UN agencies, including the World Food Programme, UNICEF and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Houthis took action a long-standing pressure It is against the UN and other international organizations working in rebel-held areas in Yemen, including Sanaa, the coastal city of Hodeidah and the rebel stronghold in Sadaa province in northern Yemen.
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Dozens of people have been detained so far, including more than 50 UN staff. A World Food Program worker died in detention in Sadaa earlier this year.
Rebels have repeatedly claimed without evidence that detained U.N. staff and people working with other international groups and foreign embassies are spies. The UN vehemently denied the accusations.
The crackdown forced the UN to suspend operations in Saada province in northern Yemen after eight staffers were detained in January. The UN also moved its top humanitarian coordinator in Yemen from Sanaa to the coastal city of Aden, which serves as the headquarters of the internationally recognized government.
