The Houthi militia in Yemen has apparently kidnapped at least ten UN employees. The militia took the men and women with them in various provinces of the country, UN sources said.
According to information from UN circles, the Houthi militia in Yemen is said to have kidnapped several United Nations employees. Twelve employees were taken away by the militia the day before in various provinces, including the capital Sanaa, it was said.
They are women and men. Their identities are not yet known. They are said to have worked for the UN emergency relief office OCHA, among others. Official representatives of the United Nations have not yet commented.
NGO reports 18 abducted people
The Yemeni human rights organization Majjun also reported abductions. Among them were at least 18 Yemeni aid workers. Unlike UN circles, the organization assumes that ten of the 18 abducted were UN employees.
The NGO denounced the kidnappings as a “serious escalation” and “extortion practices” by the Islamists “to gain political and economic advantages.” The actions of the Islamist militia are undermining the important humanitarian work in Yemen, while the majority of people in Yemen have “no adequate access to basic needs such as food and water,” Niku Jafarnia of Human Rights Watch told the AFP news agency.
Houthis control Yemeni capital
When asked, Houthi circles said that “protecting the Yemeni people from any intelligence activities” was one of the basic tasks of the militia’s security services.
The Shiite Houthi militia has been in a civil war with the internationally recognized government of Yemen for years. Since 2014, the militia, which is allied with Iran, has controlled the Yemeni capital Sanaa and large parts of the north of the country. Since 2015, a military alliance led by Saudi Arabia has been fighting on the side of the government troops.
According to the UN, the conflict in the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula is one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world. More than two thirds of the people are dependent on aid.
Houthis repeatedly kidnap UN and NGO staff
Since the beginning of the Yemen conflict, the Houthis have kidnapped, arbitrarily detained and tortured hundreds of civilians, including UN and NGO staff. Last year, the aid organization Save the Children temporarily suspended its work in the north of the country after one of its employees was killed in Sanaa.
Since the outbreak of the Gaza war, the Houthis have also repeatedly attacked merchant ships in the Red Sea. The militia claims to be allied with the militant Islamist Hamas and wants to force an end to Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip. In response, the USA and Great Britain have attacked Houthis’ positions several times.