Few aid workers and UN employees in Yemen were kidnapped on Thursday during raids by the Houthi movement.
The group reportedly attacked the office used by the UN's special envoy to the country, Swede Hans Grundberg.
At least 18 Yemeni aid workers – including 11 UN employees – are said to have been kidnapped during Thursday's raids.
According to the internationally recognized government of Yemen, the Houthi movement attacked the office of the UN's special envoy to the country, Hans Grundberg. According to Sweden's Foreign Ministry, Hans Grundberg was not in the country when the raid took place.
Jemen's Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani calls the events a "never-before-seen escalation and a flagrant violation of international laws and conventions."
Al-Eryani writes that the raids were carried out against dozens of employees of UN agencies, Hans Grundberg's office, and several international organizations working in the capital city of Sanaa.
The UN is demanding the immediate release of its employees.
The Iran-backed militant Houthi movement controls large parts of Yemen, including the capital city of Sanaa. The war, which has also led to one of the world's largest humanitarian crises, has also caused over 150,000 people to lose their lives.
The movement has carried out repeated attacks on primarily Western merchant ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November.
Hans Grundberg was appointed in 2021 as the UN Secretary-General António Guterres' special envoy to Yemen. The UN's special envoy's headquarters is located in the Jordanian capital of Amman, according to Sweden's Foreign Ministry.
