SANAA, Oct. 21 — Yemen’s Houthi group on Monday released 20 United Nations staff members detained two days earlier in the capital Sanaa over allegations of spying for Israel, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said.
“All fifteen international UN staff are now free to move inside the UN compound in Sanaa and are in contact with their respective UN entities and families,” Grundberg said in an emailed statement.
He added that five Yemeni UN employees who had been held since Oct. 18 in the same compound were also released, and that Houthi security forces had vacated the UN premises.
Despite the releases, at least 53 UN aid workers remain in Houthi detention in Sanaa on similar espionage accusations dating back to 2023, according to a Houthi source.
Most are employees of the World Food Program (WFP) and the UN children’s agency (UNICEF). The mass detentions have heightened UN concerns over the safety of humanitarian workers in Houthi-controlled areas, where the organization continues to coordinate aid operations amid a prolonged conflict and worsening humanitarian crisis.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday condemned the renewed allegations and arbitrary arrests, saying he was “gravely concerned” by the accusations, including those made by Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi on Oct. 16.
Guterres “categorically rejects all such allegations,” warning they are “dangerous and unacceptable” and put UN and aid workers at serious risk while threatening essential relief operations.
The latest arrests came two days after Abdulmalik al-Houthi accused UN staff in a televised speech of collaborating with Israel in deadly August airstrikes on Sanaa that killed several senior Houthi officials, including the group’s chief of staff, Mohammed Abdulkarim al-Gumari.
Israel said the strikes were in response to Houthi missile attacks. The UN has denied the accusations. Houthi authorities have also reportedly pressured UN agencies to replace local staff in Sanaa with workers loyal to the group.
The Iran-aligned Houthis seized Sanaa and much of northern Yemen in late 2014, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention the following year.
Since the Gaza war erupted in October 2023, the group has launched missiles and drones toward Israel and targeted commercial ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, damaging dozens of vessels and sinking four. The Houthis say their attacks are in solidarity with the Palestinians. (Xinhua)
