The United Nations on Friday suspended all travel into areas held by Yemen’s Houthi rebels after seven more of their staff were detained by the rebels.

The United Nations said on Friday that the Houthis who control northern Yemen had detained seven U.N. personnel, and it was suspending all UN staff movement in Houthi-held areas while seeking the detainees' immediate release.

The Houthis have previously detained UN staffers, as well as individuals associated with the then US Embassy in Sanaa and aid groups.View on euronews

The UN said on Friday it was suspending “all official movements” in Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen after the rebel group detained a number of people employed by the world body. The office of the resident UN co-ordinator for Yemen called for the “immediate and unconditional” release of all its detained staff held in the country.

The US placed the Iran-backed group on a list of foreign terrorist organisations last week. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Hans Grundberg, the UN special envoy to Yemen, met with Mohammed Abdulsalam, head of the Houthi negotiating delegation, in Muscat, Oman, to address the detention of UN staff and other personnel in Houthi-controlled Sanaa.

Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who are poised to return to the US terrorism blacklist, released more than 150 prisoners of war in tearful scenes on Saturday.

Iran-backed rebels say they released 'humanitarian' prisoners, aiming 'to build trust and establish a new phase' in peace talks to end decade-long civil war

Gaza Yemen’s Houthi rebels freed 153 prisoners of war on Saturday, the Red Cross said, one of several overtures in recent days to ease tensions after the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Earlier prisoner releases have been regarded as a way to jump-start talks on a permanent end to Yemen's