Sawt Falasteen - Yemen's Huthi rebels detain at least 11 UN staff: envoy

There has been no comment from Huthi authorities on the reported raids, but the group has previously arrested international aid workers.

The United Nations envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said in a statement: "I strongly condemn the new wave of arbitrary detentions of UN personnel today in Sanaa and Hodeida... as well as the forced entry into UN premises and seizure of UN property."

He said that "at least 11 UN personnel were detained" and demanded that they be "immediately and unconditionally" released.

The Huthis were already detaining 23 UN personnel, some since 2021 and 2023, he added. In January, the Huthi rebels detained eight UN workers.

The Huthis claimed arrests made in June 2024 included "an American-Israeli spy network" operating under the cover of humanitarian organisations -- allegations emphatically rejected by the UN.

Earlier on Sunday, the World Food Programme said one of its staff members had been detained in the rebel-held capital Sanaa.

It said it was "urgently seeking additional information" from the Huthi authorities, who seized the capital Sanaa in 2014 and now control large parts of Yemen.

A security source in Sanaa told AFP that seven WFP employees and three UNICEF workers were arrested on Sunday after their offices had been raided.

The WFP statement said that "the arbitrary detention of humanitarian staff is unacceptable. The safety and security of personnel is essential to carrying out life-saving humanitarian work."

Grundberg said the "arrests violate the fundamental obligation to respect and protect their (UN personnel) safety, dignity, and ability to carry out their essential work in Yemen".

A decade of civil war has plunged Yemen into one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with more than half of the population relying on aid.

The arrests last year prompted the United Nations to limit its deployments and suspend activities in some regions of the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country.

- 'Cowardly' attack -

On Saturday, a Yemeni security source told AFP that Huthi authorities had arrested dozens of people in Sanaa and other areas "on suspicion of collaborating with Israel".

It came after Israel's strike on Thursday that killed the Huthis' prime minister, Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser al-Rahawi, along with other officials.

The Iran-backed group on Sunday vowed to intensify its attacks on Israel after the killing of Rahawi, the most senior Huthi official known to have died in a series of Israeli attacks during the Gaza war.

A Sanaa resident, requesting anonymity for safety reasons, told AFP that striking a ministerial meeting was "cowardly and brutal", expressing dismay at some in Yemen "who celebrate this violence".

Ali, another resident of Sanaa who gave only his first name, denounced "a blatant attack... against our country's sovereignty."

A video posted online by a Yemeni comedian several hours after the announcement of Rahawi's death has sparked uproar.

The comedian, Mohammed al-Adrei, who presents himself as an adviser to Yemen's internationally recognised government that the Huthis oppose, filmed himself dancing to festive music in traditional clothes.

Writer Khaled al-Rowaishan responded on Facebook: "It is an absolute shame to celebrate the death of any Yemeni killed by Israeli missiles."

N.Awad--SF-PST