Houthi rebels detain 20 UN staff in Yemen | Yemen
Houthi rebels detained 20 employees at the UN facility in Yemen’s capital Sanaa.
They were holding five Yemeni and 15 international workers but released 11 more after questioning on Sunday. This was the second raid on a UN building in Sanaa in 24 hours.
The UN spokesman said authorities were 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, speaking on condition of anonymity, said rebels seized all communications equipment at the facility, including phones, servers and computers.
Staff belong to organizations such as the World Food Program (WFP), Unicef and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The Houthis are conducting operations against international organizations operating in rebel-held areas such as Sana’a, the coastal city of Hodeidah and the rebel stronghold in Saada province.
So far, many people, including more than 50 UN employees, have been detained by the Iran-backed group. Earlier this year, a WFP worker died in custody in Saada.
The rebels claimed, without any evidence, that detained UN staff and those working with other international groups and foreign embassies were spies. The UN rejected the accusations.
The UN suspended its activities in Saada after eight personnel were detained in January. It also moved its top humanitarian coordinator from Sanaa to the coastal city of Aden, which serves as the headquarters of the internationally recognized government.
