Houthis raid Red Cross offices in Sanaa for first time

Yemeni rebels confiscate laptops and mobile phones as contact lost with staff

Red Cross workers have previously helped to release people detained in Yemen, with 153 freed in January after ICRC medical checks. EPA

Yemen's Houthis have raided offices belonging to the International Committee for the Red Cross in Sanaa for the first time, keeping dozens of employees including foreign workers under siege during questioning, a source told The National.

The source said armed men confiscated mobile phones and laptops, cutting off communications with staff at the office including the ICRC's head of mission Christine Cipolla. Hours later, the devices were returned and many of the workers released.

It was not immediately clear whether any had been forcibly taken from the offices to Houthi-run locations. The source said the head of IT was held on Sunday for 24 hours before being released.

It comes as the group intensifies raids, arrests and interrogations of foreign and Yemeni staff working with international organisations, which they accuse of collaborating with Israel.

The Iran-aligned rebels, part of the so-called axis of resistance against Israel and the US, frequently attacked ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, and fired on Israeli territory during the two-year Gaza war, attacks they said were in solidarity with the Palestinians.

The Houthis have hinted at a pause in that campaign since the October ceasefire in Gaza, with military chief of staff Yusuf Al Madani telling Hamas fighters they would “reinstate the ban” on enemy shipping off Yemen's shores if the war resumes. A French-owned ultra-large cargo ship this week became the first to cross the Red Sea in two years.

The modus operandi of this weekend's raid in Sanaa is not new for the Houthis, who have on previous missions detained people and held them for questioning. One UN staff member died in Houthi custody in Saada in February, with the cause of death unknown.

The raid on the Red Cross is unprecedented, however. The organisation has previously helped with the release of Houthi detainees in Yemen. In January, a group of 153 were freed after being assessed by ICRC medical staff.

Houthi soldiers carry the coffin of prime minister Ahmed Al Rahawi. EPA

In August, Israel launched air strikes on Yemen that killed at least 11 members of the Houthi government in Sanaa, including its prime minister Ahmed Al Rahawi and military chief of staff Mohammed Al Ghamari.

There were claims of the torture and execution of dozens of humanitarian workers held in Houthi prisons, after the rebel group leader Abdul-Malik Al Houthi, in a televised speech in October, accused the World Food Programme and Unicef of complicity in “dangerous espionage cells”.

He said both organisations were using their humanitarian work as “cover” for working with the US and the Israelis, and that the group had “conclusive evidence” of this. The UN has repeatedly denied these claims.

The Houthis took over the Yemeni capital Sanaa in 2014, prompting intervention by a Saudi-led coalition the following year, at the request of the internationally recognised government.

UN staff in Yemen have been critical of the alliance for not doing enough to protect them, given their risk of being captured by the Houthis. The National has repeatedly reached out to the UN to respond to those accusations.