- UN demands release of 11 detained staff
- Houthis target international aid workers in Yemen
- U.S. airstrikes retaliate against Houthi actions
The United Nations has requested the urgent release of 11 of its personnel who the Houthi movement in Yemen has detained.
The employees were brought to various locations throughout the conflict-torn nation as part of a coordinated crackdown.
Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the United Nations, stated that the organization was actively seeking to expedite the safe and unequivocal release of the individuals.
The armed organization regards itself as a component of an Iranian-led “axis of resistance” against the United States, Israel, and the broader West. It has expressed its support for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Retaliatory air operations by the United States and its allies have been carried out in response to the Houthis‘ targeting of commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
Also detained were numerous employees of other international organizations, according to reports that cited officials from Yemen’s internationally recognized government.
Following months of Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, the raids on the workers’ residences and offices resulted in the seizure of phones and computers.
In Amran, Hudaydah, Saada, and Sana’a, 18 aid workers from various organizations were simultaneously targeted by Houthi intelligence officers, according to the Mayyun Organisation for Human Rights.
Multiple members of the National Democratic Institute (NDI), which the United States supports, were targeted, according to officials who spoke to the Reuters news agency.
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The risks that aid workers face in a country where a decade-long civil war has purportedly killed over 150,000 people and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises are illustrated by the detentions.
They arrive amid the Houthis‘ mounting economic challenges and the subsequent airstrikes conducted by a coalition headed by the United States.
The de facto government, which collects taxes and prints money, is under the control of the armed group in the north-west of Yemen and the capital, Sana’a.
The southern port of Aden is the location of Yemen’s internationally recognized government.
