UN: Yemen’s Houthis confiscate telecoms equipment, vehicles

UN: Yemen’s Houthis confiscate telecoms equipment, vehicles
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Yemen’s Houthi militants have seized telecommunications equipment and vehicles from unstaffed United Nations offices in Sanaa, the world body announced on Friday, decrying potential disruptions to its humanitarian work.

The Houthis have repeatedly targeted UN agencies and detained dozens of its staff as part of a crackdown on alleged Israeli espionage rings since the start of the war in Gaza.

The actions threaten to worsen access to humanitarian services and aid in Houthi-controlled areas, where most of Yemen’s impoverished population lives.

The development came a day after a UN official told AFP that the World Food Programme was ending the contracts of all 365 staff in Houthi-controlled Yemen, citing funding challenges and an unsafe environment for employees.

The statement said the militants had also prevented the UN Humanitarian Air Service from flying to Sanaa for more than a month, and to a government-held area not far from the capital for even longer.

Around 19.5 million people in Yemen — more than half the population — were in need of humanitarian assistance in 2025, according to UN figures.

In November, the WFP and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization named Yemen as one of the countries with populations at “imminent risk of catastrophic hunger.”