Oman’s air force has evacuated three United States citizens from war-torn Yemen to the Omani capital Muscat following a request for aid from Washington, the sultanate’s foreign ministry said on Thursday (Nov 19).
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The rebels and the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they weren’t authorized to brief journalists, did not say why the Americans were held.
In early November, the U.S. State Department announced that John Hamen, an American working for the United Nations in Yemen who was kidnapped at the airport by rebels, had died in detainment.
The Houthis previously said they had detained two Americans on suspicion of being spies, but it wasn’t immediately clear if those two were included in the release.
In September, Oman secured the release of two other Americans, three Saudis and a Briton held by Huthis.
The three were flown out of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, which is controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi militia, on an Omani air force flight late on Wednesday, ONA said.
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Yemen’s Houthi rebels overthrew the democratically-elected government in January and are now under siege from airstrikes and a ground campaign, organized by Saudi Arabia, involving an global coalition of military personnel and equipment.
