The jihadist group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (Aqpa) released a video of a United Nations employee from Bangladesh kidnapped in Yemen in February, the US organization SITE, which specializes in monitoring radical groups, reported on Saturday.
The UN said in February that five of its employees returning to Aden after a “field mission” had been kidnapped in Abyan governorate (south).
The conflict that has ravaged Yemen since 2014 pits government forces, backed in particular by neighboring Saudi Arabia, against Houthi rebels, backed by Iran. Armed groups, including Al-Qaeda, are also active there.
The hostage asks the UN to meet the conditions set by Aqpa for his release
In the video, a man who identifies himself as Akam Sofyol Anam and identified by SITE as the “UN security director” in Yemen, urges his employer to comply with the jihadist group’s demands, which are not yet known. The hostage assures that his life, as well as that of his companions, is in danger and says that he suffers from “a serious health problem that requires immediate attention.”
Created in 2009, the Aqpa group is considered by the United States to be the most dangerous branch of the jihadist network. Aqpa took advantage of the chaos caused by the war in Yemen and carried out attacks against the Houthis and government forces.
The organization has also claimed attacks in the United States and Europe, such as the deadly attack on Charlie Hebdo in 2015 in Paris, but the group has suffered multiple defeats in recent years, losing territories and fighters. According to the UN, the war in Yemen has left hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced, with two-thirds of the population in need of humanitarian aid.
Source: BFM TV
