Houthi rebels have kidnapped two United Nations employees in Sana’a and placed them in a dark, two-meter-square room, a source told Asharq Al-Awsat on Thursday. The source said the two UN staff members were not allowed to drink or use the toilet for six days. “In a letter sent last Monday, officials from the United Nations informed UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Andrew Gilmour about the incident,” it said. According to the source, the letter also mentioned that UN employees working at humanitarian agencies had concerns over harassment by Houthi insurgents. The letter expressed other concerns over an attack on eight UN employees in Sana’a, Ibb and Hodeidah, in addition to threats and incitement against them. It held Houthi authorities responsible for their concerns, and threats made against UN employees in Yemen, estimated to be around 600. The message also shed light on the efforts of the rebel group to control UN operations in Yemen by directly threatening local employees and granting short-term visas to foreign humanitarian workers. According to the same source, the letter sent by the UN employees in Yemen called on immediately ending the suffering by placing a mechanism capable of confronting such accidents through the UN Security Council.