A United Nations source told ‘Sputnik’ that ‘Ansar Allah’ released 11 local employees after interrogating them and having them sign a commitment not to leave Sanaa without prior permission. He added that ‘Ansar Allah’ is still investigating 20 UN employees; 15 of them are foreigners in leadership positions and 5 are locals, after confiscating their computers and phones to examine them and ensure they are not connected to accused spies for Israel. The source mentioned that a new batch of UN employees is expected to be released by ‘Ansar Allah’ authorities in the coming hours.
This comes a day after a security force from ‘Ansar Allah’ stormed a UN residence in the Hadda area south of Sanaa, hours after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres rejected accusations by ‘Ansar Allah’ against UN employees in Sanaa of spying for Israel and involvement in the assassination of the group’s Prime Minister and several of his ministers in airstrikes on Sanaa in late August.
Previously, the Ministry of Defense in ‘Ansar Allah’s’ government revealed the killing of the Chief of Staff of the group’s forces, Major General Mohammad Abdul Karim al-Ghamari, along with some of his companions and his son in Israeli airstrikes, without providing further details.
On October 7, the United Nations announced that ‘Ansar Allah’ had arrested 9 additional UN employees, raising the total number of its employees detained by the group since 2021 to 53, considering this as hindering its ability to operate in Yemen and provide essential aid.
The arrests of UN employees by ‘Ansar Allah’ came one day after the group officially announced on August 30 the killing of its Prime Minister Ahmed Ghalib al-Rahwi and 9 of his ministers, and the injury of others, in an Israeli airstrike on Sanaa in response to the group’s ongoing attacks on Israel since November 2023, in response to the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip.
Yemen has been experiencing fragile calm since the United Nations announced on October 2, 2022, that the Yemeni government and ‘Ansar Allah’ did not reach an agreement to extend and expand the truce that lasted 6 months. For the tenth consecutive year, the Arab country suffers from an ongoing power struggle between the internationally recognized government and ‘Ansar Allah’, with repercussions affecting various aspects, causing a humanitarian crisis described by the United Nations as one of the worst in the world.
Since September 2014, ‘Ansar Allah’ has controlled most central and northern governorates of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, while an Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia launched military operations on March 26, 2015, to support the Yemeni army in reclaiming these areas from the group.
