The UN flag flies on a stormy day at the United Nations during the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, September 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
SANAA, Yemen (AFP) — Huthi rebels in Yemen raided a United Nations (UN) building on Saturday, a UN official told AFP, adding that all of the international organisation’s employees were “safe and accounted for”.
“We can confirm that there has been an unauthorised entry by Ansar Allah security members into the UN compound in Sanaa, which currently accommodates 15 UN international staff members,” Jean Alam, spokesperson of the UN Resident Coordinator for Yemen, told AFP.
“According to the latest information, all staff in the compound are safe and accounted for and have contacted their families.”
He added that it was “an ongoing incident”, with the UN taking “all necessary measures”.
The rebels had already stormed UN offices in Sanaa on August 31, detaining more than 11 employees, according to the UN.
Those employees were suspected of spying for the United States and Israel, a senior Huthi official told AFP at the time, speaking on condition of anonymity.
In a statement on Saturday, UN Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric’s spokesperson said: “We will continue to call for an end to the arbitrary detention of 53 of our colleagues.”
He was responding to a televised address on Thursday by rebel leader Abdelmalek al-Huthi, during which he claimed his forces had dismantled “one of the most dangerous spy cells,” which he said was “linked to humanitarian organisations such as the World Food Program and UNICEF”.
Dujarric described the accusations as “dangerous and unacceptable”.
The raid on Saturday came with dozens of UN personnel already arrested in recent months in areas controlled by the Iranian-backed group.
In mid-September, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Yemen was officially transferred from Sanaa, the capital held by the Huthi rebels, to Aden, the interim capital of the internationally recognised government.
Since August 31, 2025, 21 UN personnel have been arrested, adding to the 23 current and former members of international NGOs already detained, according to the UN.
Ten years of civil war have plunged Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arabian Peninsula, into one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, according to the UN.