Houthis release five Yemeni UN staffers

Houthi rebels released five Yemeni United Nations staff members and allowed 15 international ones to move freely within the UN compound after detaining them there in Sanaa over the weekend, a UN spokesperson said.

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Stéphane Dujarric, the UN spokesperson, also said Houthi security forces had left the compound after the latest of such raids on international organisations.

The Houthis have a long-running crackdown against the UN and others working in Yemen's rebel-held areas, including capital Sanaa, the coastal city of Hodeidah and rebel stronghold in the northern province Sadaa.

The rebels have repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that the detained UN staff and employees of other organisations and embassies were spies, which the UN has denied.