Houthis Detain U.N. Employees Amid Intensifying Conflict in Yemen

At least nine Yemeni employees of U.N. agencies have been detained by Houthi rebels under unclear circumstances. With increasing financial pressure and airstrikes from a U.S.-led coalition, the Houthis have cracked down on dissent. Regional officials and aid groups have confirmed these detentions, and international calls for their release are growing.

At least nine Yemeni employees of United Nations agencies have been detained by Houthi rebels under unclear circumstances, authorities said Friday. The rebels, facing increasing financial pressure and airstrikes from a U.S.-led coalition, have also detained others working for aid groups. This development comes as the Houthis, who have controlled Yemen's capital for nearly a decade, target shipping in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The secretive group recently sentenced 44 people to death as part of their crackdown on dissent.

Regional officials, speaking anonymously to The Associated Press, confirmed the U.N. detentions, which include staff from multiple U.N. agencies such as the United Nations human rights agency, its development program, the World Food Program, and the office of its special envoy. The detainees include the wife of one UN employee. The UN has yet to comment on the situation. The Mayyun Organisation for Human Rights condemned the detentions as a violation of international law and called them oppressive practices for political and economic gain.

An open online letter by activists, lawyers, and others is calling for the immediate release of the detainees to prevent Yemen's further isolation. The Houthis and their media have not commented on the detentions but scheduled mass demonstrations. The detentions coincide with ongoing financial issues in Houthi-held areas, signaled by their introduction of a new coin into the Yemeni currency, the riyal, which has been criticized as counterfeiting by Yemen's exiled government and other nations.

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