The Yemeni group Ansarallah, widely known in the West as the Houthis, seized control of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) headquarters in Sanaa on Sunday, detaining staff and heightening tensions between the group and international humanitarian agencies operating in Yemen.
According to regional media reports, security forces loyal to Ansarallah entered the WFP office, detaining at least one staff member, with unconfirmed reports of further detentions in other UN offices. Moammar al-Eryani, the information minister for Yemen’s UN-recognized Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), claimed that guards stationed at the local UNICEF office were also taken into custody, though this information has not been independently verified.
Ansarallah has not yet issued a formal statement explaining the reasons behind the raid or the detentions. However, the operation comes just two days after an Israeli airstrike killed the group’s prime minister, Ahmed al-Rahawi, along with several senior officials. Observers suggest the raid may be part of a broader crackdown on international organizations that the group frequently accuses of cooperating with the United States and its allies to undermine its authority.
This incident is not unprecedented. In August of last year, Ansarallah raided the United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) in Sanaa, detaining at least nine UN staff members from agencies including OHCHR, UNESCO, and UNICEF. During that raid, computers, equipment, and records were confiscated, disrupting humanitarian operations.
Over the past year, detentions of UN staff and non-governmental organization (NGO) workers have become more frequent in Ansarallah-controlled areas. Humanitarian agencies operating in northern Yemen have expressed growing concerns over the safety of their personnel and the increasing restrictions imposed by the group.
Since 2014, Yemen has been divided between the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), which governs areas largely corresponding to the former South Yemen, and Ansarallah, which controls territory in the north under the Supreme Political Council (SPC). The conflict has severely strained relations between international aid organizations and the de facto authorities in Sanaa, with incidents such as Sunday’s raid further complicating humanitarian access.