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Houthi rebels recruit children, kidnap journalists, Yemen’s ambassador says

A standoff between government forces and armed Houthi rebels has lasted in Yemen since August 2014

MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/. Yemen’s rebel Houthi movement Ansar Allah recruits children and hinders the work of journalists in order to conceal the truth about current events in the controlled territories, Yemen’s ambassador to Russia Ahmed Salem al-Wahishi told TASS in an interview.

"The same can be said about many other violations, such as forcible recruitment of children and teenagers at gunpoint. About 30% of the Houthi group’s members are children. Not to mention the kidnapping of journalists with the aim of concealing the truth about the events in the Houthi-controlled areas," al-Wahishi said.

He stressed that the United Nations in partnership with Saudi Arabia had organized a conference of investors Friends of Yemen for supporting that Arab country and minimizing the effects of the humanitarian disaster.

"Yemen’s government has been working for drafting a joint plan of action with other international humanitarian organizations and building its policy accordingly for directing this humanitarian aid in the most effective way to the people of Yemen and all those who need it to relieve their suffering and also to prevent the risk of the aid being confiscated and looted by the Houthis," al-Wahishi explained.

A standoff between government forces and armed Houthi rebels has lasted in Yemen since August 2014. In January 2015, Ansar Allah seized the country’s capital Sana and later formed a parallel government. The confrontation entered into the most active phase following the Saudi Arabia-led coalition’s intervention in March 2015.