Muscat: Three Americans have been air-lifted out of Yemen to Oman, the Omani foreign ministry said on Thursday, according to a report by the state news agency ONA.
The three were flown out of Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, which is controlled by the Iran-backed Al Houthi militants, on an Omani air force flight late on Wednesday, ONA said. The brief statement gave no details on the identities of the Americans, but a Yemeni security official said the men had been detained.
“The three Americans were detained by the security forces run by Al Houthis and were held on suspicion of spying,” the official said by telephone from Sana’a.
Yemen has been split by fighting between Iran-backed Al Houthis and supporters of ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh. A Saudi-led coalition joined the fighting on the side of Saleh’s supporters in March with air strikes and ground troops.
The US State Department said earlier this month a US citizen who worked for the United Nations had died after being held in Sana’a by Al Houthis. He and another US citizen were detained as they arrived from Djibouti, the UN said.
In September, three other US citizens held hostage by Al Houthis were released.
