CAIRO — Iran-backed Houthis on Sunday raided places of work of the United Nations’ meals, well being and youngsters’s companies in Yemen’s capital, detaining a number of U.N. workers, officers stated. The rebels tightened safety throughout Sanaa following the Israeli killing of their prime minister and a number of other Cupboard members.
Abeer Etefa, a spokesperson for the World Meals Program, informed The Related Press that safety forces raided the companies’ places of work within the Houthi-controlled capital of Sanaa on Sunday morning. She stated no less than one staffer was detained within the metropolis and others reportedly detained in different areas.
“WFP reiterates that the arbitrary detention of humanitarian employees is unacceptable,” Etefa stated.
Additionally raided had been places of work of the World Well being Group and UNICEF, in response to a U.N. official and a Houthi official, who spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t licensed to transient the media.
The U.N. official stated armed forces raided the places of work and questioned workers within the car parking zone. He stated contact with a number of different WFP and UNICEF staffers had been misplaced and that they had been probably additionally detained.
Ammar Ammar, a spokesperson for UNICEF, stated various the company’s staffers had been detained, and UNICEF was in search of further data from the Houthis.
Each Etefa and Ammar stated their companies had been conducting “a complete head depend” of their workers in Sanaa and different Houthi-held areas.
A person watches the information on TV, displaying footage of Ahmed al-Rahawi, the prime minister of the Houthi-controlled authorities, who was killed, together with others, in Thursday’s Israeli strikes on the capital, in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025. Credit score: AP/Osamah Abdulrahman
The raids had been the most recent in a long-running Houthi crackdown towards the United Nations and different worldwide organizations working in rebel-held areas in Yemen.
They’ve detained dozens of U.N. staffers, in addition to folks related to assist teams, civil society and the now-closed U.S. Embassy in Sanaa. The U.N. suspended its operations within the Houthi stronghold of Saada in northern Yemen after the rebels detained eight U.N. staffers in January.
At the least 5 ministers confirmed killed within the Israeli strike
Sunday’s raids got here on the heels of the killing of the Houthi prime minister and a number of other of his Cupboard members in an Israeli strike Thursday. It was a blow to the Iran-backed rebels who’ve launched assaults on Israel and ships within the Purple Sea in relation to the Israel-Hamas battle within the Gaza Strip.
Among the many lifeless had been Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi, International Minister Gamal Amer, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Native Growth Mohammed al-Medani, Electrical energy Minister Ali Seif Hassan, Tourism Minister Ali al-Yafei and Data Minister Hashim Sharafuldin, in response to two Houthi officers and the victims’ households.
A person watches the information on TV, displaying footage of Ahmed al-Rahawi, the prime minister of the Houthi-controlled authorities, who was killed, together with others, in Thursday’s Israeli strikes on the capital, in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025. Credit score: AP/Osamah Abdulrahman
Additionally killed was a strong deputy inside minister, Abdel-Majed al-Murtada, the Houthi officers stated.
They had been focused throughout a “routine workshop held by the federal government to guage its actions and efficiency over the previous yr,” a Houthi assertion stated Saturday, two days after the strike. The Houthis stated a funeral for all these killed is scheduled for Monday in Sabeen Sq. in central Sanaa.
Protection Minister Mohamed Nasser al-Attefi survived the assault whereas Abdel-Karim al-Houthi, the inside minister and some of the highly effective figures within the insurgent group, didn’t attend the Thursday assembly, the Houthi officers stated.
U.N. envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg expressed “nice concern” over Israel’s latest strikes within the Houthi-controlled areas following Houthi assaults towards Israel.
“Yemen can’t afford to change into a battleground for a broader geopolitical battle,” he stated in a press release. He known as for de-escalation.
Thursday’s strike got here after the Houthis attacked Israel on Aug. 21 with a ballistic missile that its army described as the primary cluster bomb the rebels had launched at Israel since 2023. The missile, which the Houthis stated was geared toward Ben Gurion Airport, prompted air raid sirens throughout central Israel and Jerusalem, forcing hundreds of thousands into shelters.
The Houthis are more likely to escalate their assaults on Israel and ships within the Purple Sea, after they vowed in July to focus on service provider ships belonging to any firm that does enterprise with Israeli ports, no matter nationality.
“Our army strategy of concentrating on the Israeli enemy, whether or not with missiles, drones or a naval blockade, is steady, regular, and escalating,” al-Houthi, the group’s secretive chief, stated in a televised speech Sunday.
