UN suspends humanitarian work in Houthi leader's stronghold Saada after more staff kidnapped

The United Nations said on Monday it had suspended its humanitarian operations in the Houthi rebel stronghold of Yemen after they detained eight more UN staff, affecting the global response to one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters.

In a statement , the United Nations said the "exceptional" decision to halt all operations and programmes in the northern Saada governorate was due to the lack of security conditions and necessary guarantees.

A Houthi spokesman did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

In recent months, Houthi rebels have detained dozens of U.N. staff, as well as people associated with aid groups, civil society and the once-open U.S. embassy in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital. None of the U.N. staff have been released.

The UN statement said the halt in operations was aimed at giving the Houthis and the world body time "to arrange the release of arbitrarily detained UN staff and ensure the conditions necessary to provide critical humanitarian support" in rebel-held areas.

He said the latest detained UN staff - who were arrested late last month - included six working in Saada, on Yemen's northern border with Saudi Arabia.

According to the UN humanitarian agency, seven UN agencies are operating in Saada, including the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization and UNICEF, along with several international relief organizations.

Late last month, the United Nations suspended all flights to Houthi-controlled areas.

The war in Yemen has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians. The Iran-backed Houthis have been fighting the internationally recognized Yemeni government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition, since 2014, when they swept from their stronghold in Saada and took control of Sanaa and much of the north.

The United Nations has predicted that more than 19 million people across Yemen will need humanitarian assistance this year as many deal with climate shocks, malnutrition, cholera and the economic impacts of war.

The Houthi rebels have imprisoned thousands of people during the war. In recent months, they have also intensified their crackdown on dissent, including recently sentencing 44 people to death.

In January, the Houthis unilaterally released 153 war prisoners as one of several initiatives to ease tensions after a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The prisoner releases were seen as a way to start talks on ending the war in Yemen permanently.