At least four Americans are being held by Houthi rebels in Yemen, a Yemeni government official and a senior U.S. official told CNN Monday.
Several of the Americans are believed to be held in the capital city of Saana. It is unclear where exactly they are located and whether they’re in the same place.
There may be other Americans being held inside and outside the capital, according to the officials.
Information is scant and murky because of the lack of direct contact between the U.S. and the Houthis as well as communications challenges in war-torn Yemen. The Houthis, backed by Iran, have ousted the Yemeni government from the capital city.
At least one captive is believed to be a dual U.S.-Yemeni national. They are among dozens of Americans who chose to stay in Yemen or were unable to leave the country after the U.S. closed its embassy in February and evacuated its personnel.
They were detained at different times over the past week to 10 days, the officials said. However, the circumstances under which they were taken into custody is unclear.
It is also unclear why they were detained. At first, the Yemenis thought the Houthis took them to gain leverage on peace talks with the government, but that seems to have been ruled out. Because the rebels have made no demands, officials are not sure about the motives.
“It looks like they were just at the wrong place at the wrong time,” the Yemeni official said.
There is no indication the Americans have been physically harmed.
There are “multiple channels” that have been opened to speak to the Houthis to try and secure the Americans’ release, according to the Yemeni official, including Yemeni representatives who have ties to the rebels, NGOs and “other countries.”
Separately, one missing American was “transferred” from Sanaa to Oman Monday with the aid of Omani authorities, Oman’s official news agency reported.
Acting on instructions from Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said to assist the American government, “Oman has helped the American government … find the missing [American] citizen in Yemen,” Oman News Agency said.