Yemen’s Houthi rebels detain at least 11 UN staff in latest crackdown

Houthi rebels detained at least 11 UN staff, including WFP and UNICEF workers, in raids on their offices, prompting calls for their immediate release.

Yemen's Houthi rebels reportedly detained at least 11 United Nations staff members in raids on UN offices on Sunday marking the latest crackdown on humanitarian workers by the Iran-backed group.

A member of security forces loyal to Yemen's Houthis stands guard during an anti-Israel, anti-US, and pro-Palestinian rally organised by the staff and students of Sanaa University in Yemen's Huthi-controlled capital Sanaa on August 27, 2025.(AFP)

In a statement cited by news agency AFP, the UN special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said, “I strongly condemn the new wave of arbitrary detentions of UN personnel today in Sanaa and Hodeida... as well as the forced entry into UN premises and seizure of UN property.”

He said, "at least 11 UN personnel were detained" and demanded they be "immediately and unconditionally" released.

Grundberg further added that the rebels were already holding 23 UN workers, some since 2021 and 2023. In January, the group also detained eight UN staff.

WFP staff among those held

The World Food Programme (WFP) said earlier Sunday that one of its staff had been detained in Sanaa. A UN security source later confirmed to the news agency that seven WFP employees and three UNICEF workers were among those arrested following raids on their offices.

The WFP said in a statement: “The arbitrary detention of humanitarian staff is unacceptable. The safety and security of personnel is essential to carrying out life-saving humanitarian work.”

A Yemeni security source told AFP that the Houthis had arrested dozens of people in Sanaa and other areas on suspicion of collaborating with Israel. The arrests came days after an Israeli air strike killed the group’s prime minister, Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser al-Rahawi, along with other officials.

On Sunday, the militant group vowed to intensify attacks on Israel following Rahawi’s death, which they described as a “cowardly” strike. He is the most senior Huthi official confirmed killed in Israeli operations since the start of the Gaza war.

A decade of civil war has left Yemen facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with more than half of its population dependent on aid. Last year’s arrests prompted the UN to limit deployments and suspend some operations in rebel-held areas.

(With AFP inputs)