Houthis Kidnap Yemeni Teachers' Union Leader

The Houthi militia in Yemen on Sunday kidnapped the leader of a major teachers’ union amid a crackdown on a growing public movement demanding payment for public employees.

The Yemeni Teachers Club said that armed Houthis in Sanaa encircled the residence of its chairman, Abu Zaid Al-Kumaim, who was later kidnapped. The club demanded the immediate release of Al-Kumaim and the payment of public worker wages.

Tens of thousands of public employees in Houthi-controlled regions have not been paid since late 2016, when the Houthis ended payments in protest of the Yemeni government’s move of the central bank headquarters from Sanaa to Aden.

The Yemeni government accused the Houthis of looting the bank’s foreign currency reserves to finance military operations.

Public pressure on the Houthis has grown lately following reports that the militia had generated millions of dollars in cash from Hodeidah ports since April 2022 during the UN-brokered truce.