Yemen’s Houthis detain 20 UN employees, confiscate equipment

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels detained 20 UN employees today, a day after they raided another UN facility in the capital Sanaa, a UN official says.

Jean Alam, a spokesman for the UN resident coordinator for Yemen, tells The Associated Press that the UN staffers were detained inside the facility in Sanaa’s southwestern neighborhood of Hada.

He says those detained include five Yemenis and 15 international staff. He says the rebels released another 11 UN staffers after questioning.

He says the UN is contact with the Houthis and other parties to “to resolve this serious situation as swiftly as possible, end the detention of all personnel, and restore full control over its facilities in Sanaa.”

A second UN official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the raid, says the rebels confiscated all communications equipment from the facility, including phones, servers and computers.