Yemenis brandish rifles and wave Palestinian flags during a march in the Huthi-run capital Sanaa in solidarity with the people of Gaza on May 31, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant Hamas group in the Gaza Strip. (Credit: Mohammed Huwais/AFP)
Houthi security forces have detained at least 18 Yemeni employees of international organizations, including the United Nations, according to three officials from Yemen's internationally recognized government who spoke to Reuters on Friday.
The aid workers were kidnapped in four rebel-held parts of the war-torn country, the Yemeni Mayyun Organization for Human Rights said, listing 10 workers from UN agencies.
In a series of raids on Thursday, armed Houthi intelligence officers detained nine U.N. employees, three employees of the U.S.-funded pro-democracy group National Democratic Institute (NDI) and three employees of a local human rights group, the officials said.
This "serious escalation constitutes a violation of the privileges and immunities of United Nations personnel," the Yemeni Mayyun Organization for Human Rights added, describing the abductions as "blackmail practices to obtain political and economic gains."
The "simultaneous" abductions took place in the capital Sanaa, the key port of Hodeida, Amran and Saada, the rebels' traditional stronghold, the aid group said.
Intelligence officers of the Houthi group, which controls the capital Sanaa, and large parts of the north of the country, raided the homes and offices of the hostages, confiscating phones and computers.
The detained U.N. employees work for the human rights office and the office for humanitarian affairs, said the officials.
Neither the U.N. office nor NDI immediately responded to a Reuters request for confirmation or comment. A Houthi spokesperson did not immediately comment.
The Houthis, who are aligned with Iran and have attacked shipping in the Red Sea drawing air strikes from the United States and Britain, have held around 20 Yemeni employees of the U.S. embassy in Sanaa for the past three years. The embassy suspended operations in 2014.
Last year, the charity Save the Children suspended operations for 10 days in northern Yemen after a staff member died in detention in the rebel-held capital.
The Houthis seized control of Sanaa in September 2014, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention on behalf of the government the following March.