Kidnapping of Yemeni UN employees by Houthis widely condemned

Human rights groups on Saturday strongly denounced the Houthis’ abduction of scores of Yemenis working for the UN and for US organizations in Yemen.

Yemeni Human Rights Minister Ahmed Arman said on Friday that the Iran-backed militia had kidnapped around 50 Yemeni personnel from various UN agencies, the US Embassy, US-funded NGOs, and other foreign organizations in Sanaa after storming their residences.

The Houthis also reportedly abducted Yemeni workers in other Yemeni provinces under their control.

On Saturday, Arman told Arab News that the Houthis had resumed their raids on residences in Sanaa and abducted more Yemenis working for foreign organizations, but did not provide the names of those people or the organizations they work for.

In a joint statement, 118 Yemeni human rights organizations said the Houthi intelligence and security services had conducted simultaneous raids on the homes of Yemenis working for the UN and other international organizations in Sanaa, Hodeidah, Saada, and Amran, abducting them and taking their mobile phones and laptops.

“The Houthi militia’s continued crimes constitute a blatant breach of national and international laws and standards, as well as a manifest disrespect for all international and regional attempts aimed at restoring peace in the country,” the Yemeni groups said in their statement.

The Houthis have not provided an official explanation for their campaign, but they have previously accused Yemeni workers employed by foreign embassies or organizations of collaborating with their enemies.

When asked by Arab News to comment on reports that the Houthis were continuing to target Yemeni UN agencies’ personnel, Farhan Aziz Haq, a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said: “We have nothing new to report.”

The Houthi raids occurred as the US military said it had intercepted a fresh barrage of Houthi drones and missiles over the Red Sea and Bab Al-Mandab Strait.

The US Central Command said on Friday night that the Houthis had fired four ballistic missiles from regions under their control over the Red Sea in the previous 24 hours, none of which hit any navy or commercial ships.

CENTCOM forces destroyed four drones and two ballistic missiles in Yemeni areas controlled by the Houthis before they reached their targets on international shipping routes.

The US military also destroyed one Houthi drone launched into the Bab Al-Mandab Strait and a Houthi boat in the Red Sea.

Houthi media said on Friday that US and UK planes had carried out four airstrikes on the airport in the western province of Hodeidah, and another on the province’s Al-Salif port.

Four more US and US airstrikes hit a military base north of Sanaa on Friday, according to the Houthis.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea announced on Friday that their forces had launched drones and missiles at two ships in the Red Sea for allegedly breaching their ban on sailing to Israel.

According to ship-monitoring apps, one of the ships, the Elbella, is a Malta-flagged container ship heading from Jeddah to Egypt, while the other, the Aal Genoa, is a Cyprus-flagged general cargo ship sailing from Poland to the UAE.

Since November, the Houthis have sunk one ship, seized another, and fired hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones at international naval and commercial ships in what the Yemeni militia claims are actions in support of the Palestinian people intended to force Israel to end its assault on Gaza.