“These actions come amid the Houthis’ ongoing campaign of terror that includes taking hundreds of UN, NGO, and diplomatic staff members,” said a State Department statement.

On January 23, Houthi militants abducted seven members of United Nations staff in Sana’a, Yemen’s capital, which has been under Houthi control since 2014.

This is not the first time that Houthis abducted employees of humanitarian aid organizations. The seven most recent abductees join another 16 already in Houthi custody, 11 of whom were kidnapped in a raid last June. The Houthis have detained some 20 Yemeni employees of the U.S. embassy for the past three years.

Ironically, this latest attack took place less than a week after the Houthis released 153 detainees, ostensibly for humanitarian reasons.

As a result of the January 23 attack, the United Nations suspended all official movements into and within areas controlled by the Houthis.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for the immediate and unconditional release of the seven kidnapped U.N. personnel, adding that “The continued targeting of U.N. personnel and its partners negatively impacts our ability to assist millions of people in need in Yemen.”

Indeed, Yemen is currently experiencing one of the worst humanitarian crises of our time. According to the U.N., 21.6 million people, about two thirds of Yemen’s population, are in dire need of humanitarian aid. Seventeen million Yemenis are food insecure, meaning they don’t know where their next meal is coming from.

The United States condemned this latest outrage by the Houthis. “These actions come amid the Houthis’ ongoing campaign of terror that includes taking hundreds of UN, NGO, and diplomatic staff members, including dozens of current and former Yemeni staff of the U.S. government,” noted a statement issued by the State Department Office of the Spokesperson.

“We support the UN Secretary-General and all U.N. efforts to secure the unconditional and immediate release of all Houthi detainees. This latest Houthi roundup demonstrates the bad faith of the terrorist group’s claims to seek de-escalation and also makes a mockery of their claims to represent the interests of the Yemeni people,” said the statement.

“The Houthis have failed to commit to ceasing attacks on regional states, U.S. service members and all maritime traffic in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions,” the statement continued.

“The President’s Executive Order on designation of the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization recognizes these realities and will hold the group accountable for its reckless attacks and actions.”