WFP staff member dies in Houthi captivity in Yemen after January detention

Humanitarian worker’s death in rebel hands prompts UN aid suspension in the country

The father of two was detained in January. AFP

A World Food Programme staff member has died in captivity in Yemen after being detained by Houthi rebels, the organisation said on Tuesday.

The man, who WFP's executive director Cindy McCain named only as Ahmed, had been detained on January 23 with six others, the organisation said in a statement. It did not give details on how or when he died.

Ms McCain said she was “heart-broken and outraged” by the death.

“A devoted humanitarian and father of two, he played a crucial role in our mission to deliver life saving food assistance,” she wrote on X.

It came just a day after the United Nations paused all humanitarian operations in the country's Saada region after eight more UN staff were detained. A total of 24 UN staff are currently in detention in Yemen, including 13 kidnapped in June 2024 alongside more than 50 charity workers whom the rebel group claimed were part of “an American-Israeli spy network”.

“This extraordinary and temporary measure seeks to balance the imperative to stay and deliver with the need to have the safety and security of the UN personnel and its partners guaranteed,” deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq said.

The halt, called by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, will impact the seven UN agencies operating in the Houthi-held governorate after a series of incidents.

It is intended to “give time to the de facto authorities and the United Nations to arrange the release of arbitrarily detained UN personnel and ensure that the necessary conditions are in place to deliver critical humanitarian support”, Mr Haq added.

The Iran-backed Houthi group remain in control of large parts of Yemen's west, including the capital Sanaa and the Saada region, which it seized in 2014 from the internationally recognised government.

Since the conflict broke out, it has spiralled into one of the world's largest humanitarian catastrophes. WFP says it provided assistance to 15.3 million people, or 47 per cent of the population, in 2023.

The UN has projected that more than 19 million people across Yemen will need humanitarian assistance this year as many deal with climate shocks, malnutrition, cholera and the economic effects of war.