The United States on Wednesday condemned the ongoing detention of current and former local staffers of the U.S. embassy in Yemen by the Houthi movement.
"The United States condemns the Houthis' ongoing unlawful detention of current and former local staff of the U.S. Mission to Yemen," State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement.
"The Houthis' arrests of those staff, and the sham proceedings that have been brought against them, are further evidence that the Houthis rely on the use of terror against their own people as a way to stay in power," Pigott said.
There are currently 59 U.N. personnel, all Yemeni nationals, detained by the Iranian-backed Houthis, in addition to dozens from nongovernmental organizations, civil society and diplomatic missions.
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