Five United Nations security staff who were kidnapped in Yemen by al Qaeda militants 18 months ago have been released, the United Nations said on Friday.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the release of the U.N. staffers – four from Yemen and one from Bangladesh.
The top U.N. official in Yemen, David Gressly, met with the freedmen and joined them for a meeting with the head of Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council, whose forces helped secure the hostages’ release.
Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has used a conflict between a Saudi-led coalition and the Iran-aligned Houthis to enhance its influence.
Yemen has been mired in conflict since the Houthi group ousted the government from the capital Sanaa in late 2014.
The Saudi Arabia-led military coalition intervened in 2015, aiming to restore the government.
