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Iran-backed Houthis raid UN agencies' offices in Yemen's capital, detain one employee
The security forces raided the offices for the World Food Program (WFP) and UNICEF in Houthi-controlled Sanaa.
Iran-backed Houthis on Sunday raided offices of the United Nations' food and children's agencies in Yemen's capital Sanaa.
During the raid, the Houthis detained at least one UN employee, Associated Press reported officials as saying.
The security forces raided the offices for the World Food Program (WFP) located in the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital in the morning morning, Abeer Etefa, a spokesperson for the agency, told AP.
“WFP's offices in Sanaa were entered by local security forces who have detained a staff member, with reports of other detentions (of staff) in other areas,” AFP quoted the agency as saying. It further stated that the “arbitrary detention” of humanitarian staff was “unacceptable”.
They also raided the officer for the United Nations’ children agency, UNICEF, a UN official and Houthi official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed.
Ammar Ammar, spokesperson for the UNICEF, said that there was an “ongoing situation” regarding the agency's offices in Sanaa, without elaborating on the matter.
The UN official said that contacts with several other employees at the WFP and UNICEF were lost, adding that it was possible they were also detained.
This comes days after the Houthi prime minister and several members of his Cabinet were killed in an Israeli strike on Thursday.
Houthi crackdown on United Nations
The recent raids on the WFP and UNICEF offices are the latest in a series of Houthi crackdowns against the UN, along with other international organisations operating in Yemen's rebel-held areas.
The Houthis have earlier detained multiple staffers from the UN, and people associated with aid groups, civil society, and members of the now-closed United States embassy in Sanaa, Reuters reported.
The rebels had detained eight UN staffers in January earlier this year, following which the agency's operations were suspended in Saada in northern Yemen, which is a Houthi stronghold area.
