Houthis Free Detained UN Staff in Yemen After Raid as Thousands Mourn Slain Military Chief
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres had spoken with the foreign ministers and leaders of Iran, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia to seek their help in securing the safety and release of detained U.N. personnel.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — Houthi rebels in Yemen have released five Yemeni United Nations staff members and allowed 15 international employees to move freely inside the U.N. compound in Sanaa, following their detention during a weekend raid, the United Nations said Monday.
U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric confirmed that Houthi security forces had withdrawn from the compound after the latest in a series of crackdowns targeting international organizations operating in rebel-held areas.
“The Houthis have engaged in a long-running campaign against U.N. and aid workers across Sanaa, Hodeida, and Saada,” Dujarric said, noting that dozens of people have been detained over recent months.
The rebels have repeatedly accused aid workers of espionage, claims that the UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, firmly denied and described as “dangerous and unacceptable.”
Earlier this year, a World Food Program employee died in Houthi custody in the northern province of Saada, further intensifying international concern over the group’s treatment of humanitarian staff.
Dujarric also said that U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres had spoken with the foreign ministers and leaders of Iran, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia to seek their help in securing the safety and release of detained U.N. personnel.
He urged countries with influence over the Houthis to “use their leverage” to ensure the protection of international and national staff.
The United Nations said Sunday that Yemen’s Houthi rebels are holding 20 of its personnel — including UNICEF’s country representative — following a raid on the organization’s compound in the capital, Sanaa, a move that has deepened international alarm over the group’s escalating hostility toward humanitarian operations.
Funeral for Houthi Military Chief
The developments came as the Iran-backed rebels held a massive funeral in Sanaa for their military chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Muhammad Abdul Karim al-Ghamari, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike last week.
More than 1,000 mourners attended the funeral, chanting anti-Israel slogans and vowing revenge. The Houthis said al-Ghamari died alongside his 13-year-old son, Hussain, and several aides. The exact timing of the strike was not disclosed.
Al-Ghamari’s death marks another escalation in the simmering confrontation between the Houthis and Israel. Nearly two months ago, Israeli airstrikes also killed senior Houthi officials, including the group’s prime minister, Ahmed al-Rahawi.
The slain commander was previously sanctioned by both the United Nations and the U.S. Treasury for orchestrating cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia and military operations that endangered Yemeni civilians. The U.S. also said he received training from Hezbollah and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
Washington and Jerusalem have launched coordinated air and naval operations against Houthi positions in Yemen in response to the group’s persistent missile and drone attacks on Israel and international shipping in the Red Sea.
The Houthis have justified their actions as solidarity with Palestinians amid the ongoing Gaza war, but their attacks have severely disrupted global trade through the Red Sea — one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, through which about $1 trillion in goods transit annually.
The U.N. continues to call for de-escalation and the protection of humanitarian workers as Yemen remains gripped by conflict, foreign intervention, and an ever-worsening humanitarian crisis.
