Houthis raid U.N. agencies in Yemen, detain Il workers

Iran-backed Houthis on Sunday raided offices of the United Nations food, health and children's agencies in Yemen's capital, detaining 11 U.N. employees, officials said.

- SAMY MAGDY

The rebels tightened security across Sanaa after the Israeli assassination last week of their prime minister and several Cabinet members.

Abeer Etefa, a spokesperson for the World Food Program, told the Associated Press that security forces raided the agencies’ offices in the Houthi-controlled capital Sunday morning.

"WFP reiterates that the arbitrary detention of humanitarian staff is unacceptable," Etefa said.

Also raided were UNICEF offices, according to a U.N. official and a Houthi official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to brief the media. The U.N. official said armed forces raided the offices and questioned employees in the parking lot.

Ammar Ammar, a spokesperson for UNICEF, said a number of the agency’s staffers were detained, and the agency was seeking additional information from the Houthis.