A Saudi diplomatic source at the Kingdom's embassy in Yemen said that he has no information about reports that Saudi citizens were kidnapped and then released by Houthi rebels near Amran Province 30 km north of the Yemeni capital. The source emphasized that the embassy has been following up these reports with the responsible authorities at the Yemeni Ministry of Interior in an attempt to verify them. The Yemeni Interior Ministry has accused a group of Houthi rebels led by Mabkhout Al-Shatbouni of stopping some Saudis at a road crossing near Hayshat Al-Madrj, an affiliate of Amran Province, and kidnapping them at gunpoint. A Yemeni security source said Al-Shatbouni and his armed group held the Saudi citizens for a few hours before releasing them, but the source declined to give the exact number of kidnapped Saudis. Security sources at Umran Information Security Center emphasized that some Houthi elements have been violating the ceasefire agreement besides failing to abide by the six-point peace conditions set by the Yemeni government. He said the rebels kidnapped Hamam Faris Hamoud Daris, a Yemeni citizen, at Al-Adim in Harf Sefyan Province and took him to an unknown place. Yemeni security authorities are attempting to free the Yemeni citizen and arrest the perpetrators.
