Yemen’s Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, have kidnapped officials from the United Nations and other organizations in the country’s capital, Sanaa.
The information was released to Reuters this Friday (7) by authorities from the internationally recognized government of Yemen, supported by Saudi Arabia and which has been fighting the Houthis in a civil war since 2014 (currently, a ceasefire is in force).
According to these reports, in actions carried out on Thursday (6), the Houthis kidnapped nine UN employees, three from the US-funded pro-democracy group National Democratic Institute (NDI) and three from a local group of human rights.
The kidnapped UN staff work for the Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs offices. The Houthis, considered a terrorist group by the United States, have not yet commented on the matter.
Previously, the Houthis had already kidnapped employees of the United States embassy in the country, closed since 2014. At least 20 of them remain in the group’s hands. Other employees of UN agencies had also been kidnapped before this Thursday’s episode.
The Houthis control Sanaa and much of northern Yemen. The country’s internationally recognized government is currently based in the southern Yemeni city of Aden.
In October, the Houthis began attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea region, alleging links to Israel, and also on warships from the United States and the United Kingdom.
These attacks, most of which are neutralized or fail to reach their targets, occur in “solidarity” with the terrorist group Hamas, with which Israel is waging war in the Gaza Strip.
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