Yemeni Houthis announce release of 100 prisoners in humanitarian initiative

By Shoukri Hussein

SANAA, Yemen (AA) - The Yemeni Houthi group announced the release of 100 prisoners Saturday in a humanitarian initiative, though the legitimate government has not confirmed the move.

"Under the directives of Abdul-Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi (the group's leader), we will implement a one-sided humanitarian initiative on Saturday," Abdul Qader Al-Murtada, head of the group's National Committee for Prisoner Affairs, wrote on X. "We will release more than 100 prisoners from the other side," referring to the legitimate government supported by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.

As of 21:0 GMT, the legitimate government has not yet issued a statement on the announcement.

Both sides had previously carried out several prisoner exchange deals through local and international efforts.

During UN-sponsored consultations in Sweden in 2018, the parties submitted lists containing the names of more than 15,000 prisoners, detainees and abductees.

There is no accurate count of the number of prisoners held by both sides, especially as more individuals have since been captured.

On March 20, 2023, the Yemeni government and the Houthis agreed to release 887 prisoners and detainees from both sides after consultations in Switzerland.

On April 16, 2023, the legitimate government announced the completion of the first batch of a prisoner exchange process with the Houthis, involving around 900 prisoners from both sides.

Among those released were members of the Arab coalition forces, Nasser Mansour (brother of former President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi), former Defense Minister Mahmoud al-Subaihi, sons of former Vice President Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, and sons of the Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council Brig. Gen. Tariq Mohammed Abdullah Saleh.

Yemen has been suffering from a war that began after the Houthis took control of the capital, Sana'a, and several provinces in late 2014.

The conflict intensified in March 2015 when a Saudi-led Arab military coalition intervened to support legitimate government forces against the Iran-backed Houthi group.

*Writing by Alperen Aktas from Istanbul