Yemen’s Interior Ministry says it detained Houthi-linked cells in several provinces
Yemen Herald News 
ADEN, Yemen — Yemen’s Interior Ministry said security forces have detained several cells and individuals it described as linked to the Houthi movement across a number of provinces.
The ministry set out the claim in a statement carried on Wednesday by Saba, the news agency of the internationally recognised government.
It gave no figures. It named no provinces, identified no detainees and named no officials.
The account rests on the ministry’s statement alone. No independent confirmation has been published, and Yemen Herald could not establish how many people are held, where they are being held, or whether any have been charged.
The ministry did not say when the detentions took place, and it set out no charges.
The ministry said the operations had uncovered what it called suspicious movements, communications and meetings.
Those included attempts to smuggle, to gather information, to recruit people and to support activities threatening security, according to the statement.
Security authorities had established that the Houthis make use of telecommunications networks to do so, the ministry said.
Residents in areas under Houthi control were being pressed to telephone relatives in provinces held by the government, it said, either to collect information or to pass on messages.
The ministry said the activity was being monitored. It said authorities had the information and the means to identify those involved and to take legal action.
The statement warned the Houthis against continuing. It asked residents to report approaches of that kind through official channels.
The Houthis did not comment. They reject the government’s description of their forces and have characterised its security campaigns as arrests of political opponents.
Ibrahim Haidan heads the Interior Ministry. He discussed coast guard support with the European Union mission and the Dutch ambassador in Aden on 23 September, and border and coast guard cooperation with a United States envoy on 4 September.
Telecommunications have featured on both sides of the conflict this month. Al-Masirah, the broadcaster run by the Houthis, said on 29 September that Saudi aircraft had struck telecommunications facilities in al-Durayhimi district in Hodeidah governorate.
No casualties were reported in that account. Saudi authorities did not respond to it, and the claim has not been independently confirmed.
Saudi aircraft struck Houthi-held Hodeidah in July, according to Houthi-run media at the time.
The statement follows a month of fighting between the two sides.
Fighting began on 3 September with a Houthi offensive in Taiz governorate. The Presidential Leadership Council mounted counter-offensives in al-Jawf and al-Bayda.
The Houthis took the Red Sea port of Mokha on 9 and 10 September, together with the Hays and al-Khawkhah districts of Hodeidah governorate.
They seized the Hanish Islands on 10 September. On 11 September they took Perim Island and Dhubab district, near the Bab al-Mandab strait, and extended their hold along the west coast.
Government forces took al-Yatma and the Labanat military camp in al-Jawf governorate.
Government units carried out air and ground operations in Taiz between 23 and 27 September, according to their military media centre.
The centre said the operations hit Houthi positions in al-Waziiya district, Mafraq Mawiya, al-Dhukrah, Hayfan district and the Gurab area. It said government forces had taken the Jabal Bazel high ground and held the al-Ahtoub and Hadran fronts.
Al Jazeera reported that it could not verify those claims.
Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, has called for general mobilisation. Brigadier-General Majed al-Nazili speaks for the government forces.
UNICEF said at least 15 children had been killed and 14 injured in the fighting.
The International Organization for Migration counted 76,000 people displaced by 12 September. The figure reached about 100,000 the next day, when 1,400 Yemenis crossed into Djibouti within 24 hours.
More than 146,000 people have been displaced since July, and more than 3,000 have reached Djibouti.
The United Nations says more than 22 million people in Yemen need humanitarian assistance. It says more than 2.2 million children under five are acutely malnourished.
Detention has been a running point of dispute. Human Rights Watch said that from 31 May 2024 the Houthis detained 13 United Nations staff and at least 50 staff from Yemeni and international civil society organisations.
As of February 2026, the group said, 73 UN staff and dozens of other humanitarian workers remained in Houthi detention, all of them Yemeni nationals.
Many were held without warrants and were denied access to lawyers, according to Human Rights Watch. It said the Houthis had accused humanitarian organisations and their staff of espionage.
The Houthis have fired ballistic missiles and drones at Saudi cities during the same period.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Faisal bin Farhan, has called for international condemnation of the offensive.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman telephoned United States President Donald Trump twice on 10 September to request American strikes, and Trump declined. Two US officials said Washington did not intend to intervene directly.
More than 100 American military advisers were supplying intelligence support to Saudi forces from bases in Saudi Arabia by 11 September.
France has confirmed a troop deployment to guard the Yanbu oil terminal. Iran put forward a ceasefire proposal, which Trump rejected.
Iran’s president said the Houthis’ actions were not connected to Iran.
Two agencies carry the Saba name. One operates from Aden under the government, the other from Sanaa under the Houthis.
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