Five UN staff members have been abducted in southern Yemen. They were abducted on Friday while returning to Aden after work. The United Nations reported the matter on Saturday, local time. News Reuters.
Russell Giki, a spokesman for the top UN official in Yemen, said the five workers had been abducted in the province of Abyan. The United Nations has been working closely with the Yemeni authorities to secure their release.
The Saudi-led coalition has been conducting operations against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen since 2015. The Saudi coalition launched the operation in March of that year after Houthi rebels attacked the capital, Sanaa, in early 2015 and ousted Mansour Hadi’s government. Thousands killed in Yemen clashes Millions of people have been displaced.
Moscow has demanded the identification of a US submarine in Russian waters near the Kuril Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the US submarine had not moved, despite warnings from Sputnik. Later, it was driven out in compliance with water boundary protection policies. Meanwhile, the news agency AFP reported that the United States has said that the allegation of the presence of US submarines violating Russian waters is baseless.
Russia claims to have spotted a U.S. submarine near Urup Island in the Kuril Islands at around 10:40 a.m. Moscow time on Saturday morning. The Virginia-class submarine crashed into an area where Russian naval exercises were taking place. The submarine was told to come up immediately, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
Warning is given in both Russian and English. But the submarine ignored those warnings. The Russian Defense Ministry has claimed that measures have been taken under the policy of border protection of seabed. They say the crew of the Russian submarine destroyer Frigate (Marshall) “Marshal Shaposhnikov” used “relevant methods”. The submarine then quickly left the area.
A representative of the military department of the US embassy in Moscow has been summoned. Russia’s Defense Ministry says the submarine’s provocative behavior is a threat to Russia’s security. The United States must stop such behavior in the future. Russia has a right to take any action to ensure security in its waters, the defense ministry said.
The United States has denied any involvement in the submarine attack, AFP reported. The U.S. military says in a statement that Russia has no plans to sue Russia over its territorial integrity.
Capt. Kyle Raines, a spokesman for the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said he would not comment on the exact location of U.S. submarines. However, Kyle said: “We operate and operate our aircraft and ships safely in international waters.”
Moscow has accused US submarines of violating the border amid tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine. Russia has said in a statement that Russia has deployed hundreds of thousands of troops along its border with Ukraine. Washington fears Moscow could launch an attack on Ukraine at any time. Russia has said it has no plans to launch an attack. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called such allegations “provocative.”
The Kuril Islands are located north of Hokkaido Island in Japan. The islands have been under Moscow’s control since Soviet troops occupied them during World War II.