Media: Twelve UN employees released by Houthis depart Yemen’s rebel-held capital

As many as twelve international United Nations employees who were detained by Yemen’s Houthi rebels inside a UN compound in Sanaa have been released and flown out of the city, the organisation confirmed on October 22.

The Iran-backed Houthis raided the UN facility in the rebel-held capital last weekend, detaining 20 staff members, including 15 foreigners, Caliber.Az reports via Arab News.

Five Yemeni employees were freed on October 19.

“Earlier today, 12 UN international staff who were among those previously held in the UN compound in Yemen departed Sanaa on a UN Humanitarian Air Service flight,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s spokesperson said in a statement.

According to UN spokesman Farhan Haq, some of the released employees will relocate to Amman, Jordan, though he did not rule out future travel or a potential return to Yemen. The remaining three staff members are now “free to move or travel,” the UN added.

“We do intend to maintain some international staff in Sanaa,” Haq told reporters.

Among those detained was Peter Hawkins, UNICEF’s representative in Yemen.

The Houthis, aligned with Iran’s “axis of resistance” against Israel and the United States, have intensified attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes and Israeli territory during the ongoing Gaza conflict, claiming solidarity with the Palestinians.

Israel has carried out several retaliatory strikes, including one in August that killed the Houthis’ prime minister and nearly half of his cabinet.

Rebel leader Abdulmalik Al-Houthi accused the detained UN employees of involvement in that attack, offering no evidence. The UN has rejected the claim.

According to the international body, 53 UN staff members remain arbitrarily detained by the Houthis. The group stormed UN offices in Sanaa on August 31, seizing more than 11 employees.

A senior Houthi official said that the detained staff were suspected of spying for the United States and Israel.

In mid-September, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Yemen was relocated from Sanaa to Aden, the seat of the internationally recognised government.

By Aghakazim Guliyev