Houthi court sentences five to death for spying for UK
Houthi forces also said they uncovered an American-British intelligence cell in the country earlier this year.
A Houthi court sentenced five people to death on Tuesday after finding them guilty of spying for the United Kingdom.
The court in the capital Sanaa said the men engaged in espionage on behalf of several British intelligence officers and unnamed “others,” the Houthi-run Saba News Agency reported.
Yemen’s Houthi forces are fighting in the country’s civil war against the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. They control much of the country’s west, including the capital. The Houthis receive support from Iran, while the Hadi government is backed by a Saudi-led military coalition.
The administration of US President Joe Biden has given priority to ending the war in Yemen. The State Department regularly criticizes attacks by the rebels and sanctioned two Houthi military leaders in March in response to attacks on Saudi Arabia. The United Kingdom also recently condemned Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia as well as the Houthi offensive on the city of Marib.
