Houthi rebels raid UN offices, take 11 personnel

Iran-backed Houthi rebels, Yemen’s de facto authorities, forcibly entered United Nations properties on Sunday and seized at least 11 workers, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said. World Food Programme Executive Director Cindy McCain confirmed that nine of the people arrested worked for her office. Rebels forcibly entered the program’s offices in Sanaa, Yemen, took nine team members, while confiscating and destroying property, she said in a Monday statement. UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell confirmed Monday that UNICEF workers were also among those illegally arrested.

The European Union joined McCain and Guterres’ condemnation of the attack and called for the immediate release of workers. Houthi actions violated international law and the Vienna Conventions, the EU said. Diplomats from both Germany and France released similar statements condemning the attacks. The United States last year declared the Houthis to be terrorists, and the Trump administration has continued that stance.

The World Food Programme’s Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau described the raid as a terrible blow to the team, noting that the UN had already been working to restore six other staff members previously taken. Sunday’s raid was a terrible setback in a country that the UN has served for nearly 60 years, he wrote.

Why did they raid the UN? The Houthi raids came days after Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed Al-Rahawi and several other terror leaders were killed in an Israeli strike on Sanaa. The Israel Defense Forces eliminated senior officials responsible for bolstering the Houthi terror regime and perpetrating terror against Israel, according to a Saturday statement. But the terror group on Tuesday morning didn’t say whether their deaths triggered the attacks on UN properties.

Thousands of mourners gathered Monday to mourn the terror leaders at Sanaa’s largest mosque. Footage showed attendees chanting the Houthi slogan, “God is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse on the Jews, Victory to Islam”.

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta’s report about Trump’s comments in May about the Houthi rebels and their exchanges with Israel.