Yemeni officials reported that the Houthi rebels have detained another official from the long-closed US Embassy in Yemen, raising the total number of local ex-US Embassy staffers in the rebel group’s captivity to at least 11.
According to Abdel-Majeed Sabra, a rights lawyer in Sanaa, and a family member of a detainee, the Houthis, an Iran-backed organisation that controls the capital, Sanaa, and parts of Yemen’s north, the Houthis kidnapped a former press officer from the US Embassy last week. Because of the risk of retaliation, the family member spoke on the condition of anonymity.
According to Sabra, the former embassy press officer is being held in a facility run by the Houthi-run Security and Intelligence Authority. It’s unclear whether the Houthis have charged the individual or any of the other detainees from the US Embassy, he said.
The latest detainee, according to Sabra, was detained a month after the rebel group arrested his former deputy at the embassy.
On Tuesday, Houthi militants returned the newest embassy official to his residence to search it, then hauled him away again.
In an email to The Associated Press this week, the State Department stated that the US government was “unceasing” in its attempts to secure the release of the local embassy personnel.
As a result of the country’s civil war, Washington closed its embassy in Yemen, the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula, in 2015.
The Houthis had surged south from their northern base the year before, taking the capital and other territory during a period of growing political unrest. In 2015, a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia entered the battle.
With increasing Iranian help, the Houthis have been able to stave off the Saudi-led military coalition. The United Nations and relief organisations have labelled Yemen’s entire condition as the world’s worst humanitarian disaster, with millions of Yemenis facing hunger.
The Houthis have repeatedly rejected the Biden administration’s attempts to engage them in peace talks, accusing the US of supporting the coalition.
Last October, the Houthis took over the US Embassy’s headquarters. They arrested dozens of former employees, many of whom were ultimately released.
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