Yemen's Houthi Rebels Continue To Keep Prisoner Several Local US Embassy Staff - Reports

DOHA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd November, 2021) The Houthi movement rebels governing northern Yemen continue to hold a number of US embassy officials in Sanaa under arrest, Al Arabiya broadcaster reported on Monday, citing sources.

According to the broadcaster's sources, the Houthis detained 30 former and current employees of the US embassy.

"The Houthis are still holding a number of US Embassy officials under arrest," the sources were quoted as saying by Al Arabiya.

On Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the detention of Yemeni staff of the US embassy in Sanaa and the breach of the embassy compound by the Houthi rebels and called for their immediate release.

The Houthis reportedly attacked the compound on November 11. As a result of the attack, 25 employees of the diplomatic mission that had worked there in a caretaker capacity were taken prisoner, all of them were citizens of Yemen.

The US Embassy in Sanaa has suspended its operations since 2015.

Yemen has been gripped by the conflict between the government forces led by President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi and the Houthi Ansar Allah movement for nearly seven years. The situation in the country was further complicated after Saudi Arabia joined the conflict on the side of Yemen's government in 2015, launching air, land and sea operations against the Islamist rebel movement.

Since February 2020, the Houthis have been carrying out a large-scale operation against the Yemeni army in Marib to gain control over the province, which is also a political, military, and economic center.