Yemen’s Houthi authorities have ordered US and British UN and Sanaa-based humanitarian workers to leave the country within a month, according to a document and a Houthi spokesman.
According to the report, the decision follows strikes by the United States and Britain, with help from other nations, on military sites of the Iran-aligned group, which has been attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea that it claims are related to Israel.
Meanwhile, the US administration added the Houthis to a list of terrorist groups last week as part of its efforts to prevent assaults on international ships in the Red Sea. The Houthis have declared their attacks are in sympathy with the Palestinians as Israel bombards Gaza.
The letter also ordered foreign organisations not to hire American and British citizens for Yemen’s operations.
Houthi top negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam confirmed the letter’s authenticity.
The US embassy said in a statement it was aware of reports about the letter but “cannot speak on behalf of the UN or humanitarian organizations in Yemen as to what they may have received from Houthi authorities”.
However, the British embassy said staff had not yet been told to leave and the mission was in close contact with the UN on the issue.
According to reports, the Houthi movement now controls much of Yemen following nearly a decade of conflict with a US-backed and Saudi-led coalition. As violence has ceased, the war has transitioned to a “no-war, no-peace” stalemate, but neither party has formally renewed a UN-brokered truce.
US and British warplanes, ships, and submarines have launched hundreds of air strikes across Yemen in response to Houthi raids, forcing container ships to divert from the Red Sea, Asia’s fastest freight route to Europe.
The Pentagon said US and British forces struck a Houthi subterranean storage site, as well as missile and surveillance capabilities, on Tuesday.
