5 Yemeni staff released, 15 int'l personnel free to move in Yemen compound: UN

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Five Yemeni UN staff who had been detained since Saturday within a UN compound in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa have been released, and another 15 international personnel who had been detained are now free to move inside the same compound, said the UN Country Team in Yemen on Monday.

In a note to correspondents, the team said that the international staff are in contact with their respective UN entities and families.

On Saturday, a Yemeni security official told Xinhua that Houthi forces stormed the UN compound, seized employees' mobile phones, and interrogated staff members.

The Houthis released 11 local employees late Sunday from the UN Common Accommodation Facility on Hadda Street, a source from the UN Office in Yemen told Xinhua on Monday. ■