• Wion
  • /World
  • /Five UN staff abducted in southern Yemen

Five UN staff abducted in southern Yemen

Five UN staff abducted in southern Yemen

UN

FiveUnited Nationsstaffhave beenabductedin southern Yemen while returning to Aden after a field mission, theUnited Nations said on Saturday.

Thestaffwereabductedon Friday in Abyan governorate, said Russell Geekie, a spokesman for the top U.N. official in Yemen.

"TheUnited Nations is in close contact with theauthoritiesto secure their release," Geekie said.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Yemen's internationally recognised government, which is based in south Yemen, was working to safely free the U.N.staffabductedbyunknown gunmen, the official news agency on Saturday cited a cabinet statement as saying.

An official at the U.N. office in Aden told Reuters that four of those seized were Yemeni nationals.

Yemen has been mired in violence since the Iran-aligned Houthi movement ousted the government from the capital, Sanaa, in late 2014, prompting a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia to intervene months later.

Among Yemen's many destabilising forces are Islamist militant groups Al Qaeda and Islamic State that have in the past carried out attacks including in the south, which last year saw protests over deteriorating economic conditions.

Watch |Gravitas: The Yemen Conflict is intensifying

The war has killed tens of thousands of people and caused a dire humanitarian crisis with 80% of Yemen's population reliant on aid.