The United Nations called for the immediate release of 11 of its employees detained by the Houthi group in Yemen.
Staff have been kidnapped in different parts of the conflict-torn country, in what appears to be a coordinated crackdown.
United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that the international organization is following all available channels to ensure their safe and unconditional release as soon as possible.
The armed movement considers itself part of the “axis of resistance” led by Iran against Israel, the United States, and the West, and declared its support for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The Houthis are targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea, prompting retaliatory air strikes by the United States and its allies.
Reports citing officials from the internationally recognized Yemeni government stated that a number of employees of other international organizations were also arrested.
Phones and computers were confiscated during raids targeting workers’ homes and offices, which come months after Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea.
Mayon Organization for Human Rights said that Houthi intelligence officers targeted 18 aid workers from several groups in Amran, Hodeidah, Saada, and Sanaa at the same time.
Officials told Reuters news agency that several members of the US-backed National Democratic Institute were targeted.
The arrests show the risks aid workers face in a country where a decade-long civil war has reportedly killed more than 150,000 people and caused one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
This move comes as the Houthis face increasing economic difficulties and air strikes launched by the US-led coalition.
The armed group controls the Yemeni capital – Sanaa – and the northwest of the country, and runs a de facto government that collects taxes and prints money.
The internationally recognized Yemeni government is based in the southern port of Aden.
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