Houthis unilaterally release 153 prisoners from Yemeni government

SANAA, Yemen

The Yemeni Houthi group said Saturday that it unilaterally released 153 prisoners from the Yemeni government.

"The initiative was unilateral and taken for humanitarian reasons,” Abdul Qader al-Murtada, who heads of the group’s prisoner affairs committee, told a press conference in Sanaa.

He said the releases aim “to deliver a positive humanitarian message, and we hope that the other party will read it in its correct context."

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed the release of the 153 detainees by the Houthis.

“This operation has brought much-needed relief and joy to families who have been anxiously waiting for the return of their loved ones,” said Christine Cipolla, the ICRC's head of delegation in Yemen.

“We hope that today’s release will lead to many more moments like this,” she added.

On Friday, the Houthi group announced its intention to release dozens of government prisoners.
Yemen has seen a relative state of calm since April 2022 following a truce that halted hostilities between Yemeni government forces and the Houthi group.

The government and the Houthis carried out the most recent prisoner exchange in April 2023, releasing around 900 prisoners and detainees from both sides, with mediation from the ICRC and the UN following negotiations in Switzerland.

Yemen has fallen into violence since the Iran-backed Houthi group captured the capital Sanaa and much of the country in 2014 from the Yemeni government.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi