The UN said the ‘extraordinary and temporary measure’ was taken to ensure the safety and security of its personnel.

The United Nations has temporarily paused all operations in Yemen’s Saada region after Houthi authorities detained eight more of its staff, a UN spokesman said.

“This extraordinary and temporary measure seeks to balance the imperative to stay and deliver with the need to have the safety and security of the UN personnel and its partners guaranteed,” UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Monday.

“Such guarantees are ultimately required to ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of our efforts,” Haq said.

Seven UN agencies currently operate in Saada – a Houthi stronghold in Yemen’s north – including the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization and the children’s agency UNICEF.

Haq said he could not say how many people in Yemen would be affected by the pause in UN operations, but said the world body remains “fully committed to assist the millions of people in need” across the country.

“This pause is to give time to the de facto authorities and the United Nations to arrange the release of arbitrarily detained UN personnel and ensure that the necessary conditions are in place to deliver critical humanitarian support,” he said.

The Houthis, who did not immediately acknowledge the UN’s decision, have detained dozens of UN staff since 2021, and the group had at least 24 people in detention before the latest arrests.

No UN staffers have been released so far, and the group has paraded them on television channels where they are presented as collaborators with Western intelligence agencies and Israel.

The UN previously suspended all travel into areas held by the Houthis on January 24 after an unspecified number of staff were detained by the rebel group.

It is unclear why UN staff were still present in Saada at the time of their arrest. The Iran-backed Houthis have controlled most of Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa, since seizing power in 2014 and early 2015. The group has been at war with a Saudi-led coalition that is battling on behalf of Yemen’s exiled government.

More than a decade of war has left 150,000 people dead in Yemen. The country is also experiencing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with more than 18 million people in dire need of assistance, according to the UN.

The Houthi’s targeting of the UN comes as the armed group has been winding down its campaign of attacks against targets in Israel as well as international shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

The group began their campaign in solidarity with the people of Gaza in November 2023, saying it would cease its attacks after a ceasefire was reached between Israel and Hamas.

In January, United States President Donald Trump reinstated the Houthi’s designation as a “terrorist” organisation, which he had put in place during his first term, before it was revoked by US President Joe Biden.