Houthis Holding 69 UN Staff after New Wave of Arrests in Sanaa
Yemen’s Houthi group detained 10 additional United Nations staff members in Sanaa on Thursday, bringing the total number of UN personnel held by the Iran-supported rebels to 69, all of them Yemeni, according to a UN spokesperson and UN sources.
Houthi officials did not issue an immediate response to the latest detentions. The group has previously defended such actions by alleging that UN personnel and humanitarian staff were working with US and Israeli intelligence services, a charge the United Nations has dismissed.
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The move follows criticism from UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday, who said, “I strongly condemn the continued arbitrary detention of 59 UN colleagues and partners, as well as individuals from non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, and diplomatic missions. I call for their immediate and unconditional release in accordance with international law.”
Guterres called the ongoing detentions, “a profound injustice to those who have dedicated their lives to helping the people of Yemen.”
A local security contact told Xinhua News Agency that the latest detentions are part of a stepped-up Houthi intelligence drive focused on Yemeni UN employees in Sanaa. The source said the arrests may widen to areas outside the capital that remain under the group’s control.
