Cairo
Associated Press
—
Iran-backed Houthi rebels captured 20 UN staff on Sunday, a day after attacking another UN facility in the capital Sanaa, UN officials said.
Jan Alam, a spokesman for the U.N. resident coordinator in Yemen, told The Associated Press that the U.N. staff were detained in a compound in Hada, southwest of Sanaa.
He said those detained on Sunday included five Yemenis and 15 international staff. He said the rebels released 11 more UN staff after interrogation.
He said the United Nations was in contact with the Houthis and other parties to “resolve this serious situation as soon as possible, end the detention of all personnel and restore full control of the Sanaa facility.”
Another U.N. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the attack, said the rebels seized all communications equipment from the facility, including phones, servers and computers.
The official said the detained staff members belonged to several UN agencies, including the World Food Programme, UNICEF and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The Houthis have launched a prolonged crackdown on the United Nations and other international organizations operating in rebel-held areas of Yemen, including Sanaa, the coastal city of Hodeidah, and rebel strongholds in Yemen’s northern Saada governorate.
Dozens of people have been detained so far, including more than 50 UN staff. A World Food Program worker died in custody in Saada earlier this year.
The rebels have repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that the detained UN officials and those working with other international organizations and foreign embassies were spies. The United Nations vehemently denied the accusations.
The crackdown forced the United Nations to suspend operations in Yemen’s northern Saada province after eight of its staff were detained in January. The United Nations also relocated Yemen’s top humanitarian coordinator from Sanaa to the coastal city of Aden, the seat of the internationally recognized government.
