Houthi raids on Sanaa UN offices detain UN staff

Iran-aligned Houthi forces on Sunday stormed United Nations offices in the rebel-held capital Sanaa and detained U.N. staff, in raids that U.N. officials and aid agencies said came amid a wider security crackdown following an Israeli strike that killed the Houthi prime minister and several ministers. U.N. officials said at least 11 U.N. personnel were detained; agency spokespeople and local security sources offered differing tallies of the staff taken and the locations targeted.

The World Food Programme and UNICEF offices in Sanaa were among those raided, U.N. and Houthi officials said, and at least some accounts reported operations in the Red Sea port of Hodeidah and entries into World Health Organization premises. The U.N. secretary-general, António Guterres, condemned the forced entries, the seizure of U.N. property and the detentions, and demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the personnel, his office said. U.N. Special Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg separately said he "strongly condemns the new wave of arbitrary detentions" and that at least 11 U.N. staff had been taken, adding that 23 U.N. personnel were already being held by the Houthis, some since 2021 and 2023.