The funeral procession of Yemen's Houthi rebel commander, Major General Mohammed al-Ghamari, accompanied by his 13-year-old son, Hussein, and two bodyguards, passes through the streets of Sanaa on Oct. 20, 2025. (Credit: Mohammed Huwais/AFP)
The U.N. said Monday that its international staff held by Yemen's Houthi rebels in a raid on its Sanaa compound were now free to move inside, and all five national staff had been freed.
On Saturday, the United Nations office in Yemen said Houthi security forces had made an "unauthorized entry" into its compound in the city.
Twenty staff were being held, including Peter Hawkins, the Yemen representative of the U.N. children's agency UNICEF.
"All 15 U.N. international staff are now free to move inside the U.N. compound in Sanaa and are in contact with their respective U.N. entities and families," the U.N. said in a brief statement.
"The five national staff who had been detained since Oct. 18 within the same U.N. compound have been released."
"Security personnel of Ansar Allah have vacated the U.N. compound in Sanaa," the statement concluded, referring to the Houthis.
Saturday's raid came with dozens of U.N. personnel already arrested in recent months in areas controlled by the Iranian-backed group.
In mid-September, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Yemen was officially transferred from Sanaa, the capital held by the Houthis, to Aden, the interim capital of the internationally recognized government.
Ten years of civil war have plunged Yemen, the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country, into one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, according to the U.N.
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