UN says 5 staff members kidnapped in Yemen 18 months ago walk free

CAIRO (AP) — The United Nations says five staff members who were kidnapped in Yemen 18 months ago have walked free. In a brief statement, a U.N. spokesperson said Friday that all “available information suggests that all five colleagues are in good health.” He says the five men worked for the U.N. Department of Security and Safety. The identity of the kidnappers was not revealed. In February 2022, Yemeni officials told the Associated Press that suspected al-Qaida militants had abducted five U.N. workers in southern Yemen’s Abyan province. Kidnappings are frequent in Yemen, an impoverished nation where armed tribesmen and militants take hostages to swap for prisoners or cash.