Iran-backed Houthis raid UN food and children’s agencies in Yemen : NPR
A man watches the news on television, displaying images of Ahmed al-Rahawi, the Prime Minister of the Government controlled by the Houthi, who was killed, as well as others, in the Israeli strikes on Thursday on the capital, in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday August 30, 2025.
Osamah Abdulrahman / AP / AP
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Osamah Abdulrahman / AP / AP
CAIRO – The Houthis supported by Iran have descended from the offices of United Nations food and children in the capital of Yemen, holding at least one UN employee, said officials, while the rebels tighten safety through Sanaa after the Israeli murder of their Prime Minister and several members of the cabinet.
Abeer Etefa, spokesperson for the World Food Program, told the Associated Press that the security forces have made a descent into agency offices in the capital controlled by Houthi on Sunday morning.
“PAM reiterates that arbitrary detention of humanitarian staff is unacceptable,” said Etefa.
According to a UN official and a Houthi official, UNICE offices
Ammar Ammar, spokesperson for UNICEF, said there was a “continuous situation” linked to their offices in Sanaa, without providing more details.
The UN official said that contacts with several other PAM and UNICEF staff had been lost and that they were probably also detained.
The raids were the last of a longtime repression of Houthis against the United Nations and other international organizations working in regions held by rebels in Yemen.
They have owned dozens of United Nations staff, as well as people associated with aid groups, civil society and the US Embassy closed in Sanaa. The UN suspended its operations in the bastion of the Saada Houthis in northern Yemen after the rebels owned eight UN employees in January.
At least 5 ministers confirmed death in the Israeli strike
Sunday’s raids occurred to the murder of Prime Minister Houthi and several of his cabinets in an Israeli strike on Thursday, in one blow to the rebels supported by Iran who launched attacks against Israel and ships in the Red Sea in relation to the War of Israel-Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Among the dead were Prime Minister Ahmed Al-Rahawi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gamal Amer, Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Local Development Mohammed Al-Medani, the Minister of Electricity Ali Seif Hassan, the Minister of Tourism Ali Al-Yaaei, the Minister of Information Hashim Sharafuldin, according to two Houthi officials and the families of the victims.
There was also a powerful assistant interior minister Abdel-Majed al-Murtada, Houthi officials said.
They were targeted during a “routine workshop run by the government to assess its activities and performance in the past year,” a Houthi statement said on Saturday after the strike. The Houthis said that funeral for all people killed are scheduled for Monday in Sabeen Square in central Sanaa.
The Minister of Defense, Mohamed Nasser Al-ATTEFI, survived the attack while Abdel-Karim al-Houthi, the Minister of the Interior and one of the most powerful personalities in the rebel group, did not attend the meeting on Thursday, said Houthi officials.
Thursday’s strike occurred after the Houthis attacked Israel on August 21 with a ballistic missile that his soldiers described as the first cluster bomb that the rebels had launched in Israel since 2023. The missile, which, according to the Houthis, was intended for Ben Gurion airport, provoked air sirens through the center of Israel and Jerusalem, forced mines in the shelters.
The Houthis are likely to degenerate their attacks against Israel and the Red Sea ships, after promising in July to target merchant ships belonging to any business that does business with Israeli ports, regardless of nationality.
“Our military approach aimed at targeting the Israeli enemy, whether with missiles, drones or a naval blockade, is continuous, stable and degenerates,” said Al-Houthi, the secret leader of the group, in a television speech on Sunday.
