Houthis say liberated more than 200 prisoners in newly captured regions Yemen's Houthis said on Saturday that they had freed more than 200 of their members detained by Saudi-backed pro-government forces in areas they captured in recent days. Houthi official Abdelkader al-Murtada said they were prisoners of war who had spent up to eight years in jail before the Iran-backed group launched a rapid offensive to take over areas bordering the Bab al-Mandab Strait. "We have welcomed 210 of our prisoners, freed from Saudi enemy prisons on the west coast," Murtada said at a conference in the capital Sanaa. Fighters loyal to the Houthi authorities march during a rally to recruit more fighters, in Sanaa, Yemen, on 10 September 2026 (Mohammed Huwais/AFP) The Houthis had already controlled large parts of northern Yemen, including most of the country's populated areas and the major cities of Sanaa and Hodeida, before making dramatic advances last week.
Yemen's Houthis said on Saturday that they had freed more than 200 of their members detained by Saudi-backed pro-government forces in areas they captured in recent days.
Houthi official Abdelkader al-Murtada said they were prisoners of war who had spent up to eight years in jail before the Iran-backed group launched a rapid offensive to take over areas bordering the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
"We have welcomed 210 of our prisoners, freed from Saudi enemy prisons on the west coast," Murtada said at a conference in the capital Sanaa.
The Houthis had already controlled large parts of northern Yemen, including most of the country's populated areas and the major cities of Sanaa and Hodeida, before making dramatic advances last week.