Houthis release 159 Yemen pro-government fighters

Yemen's Houthis released 159 pro-government fighters under an amnesty, the International Committee of the Red Cross and a Houthi official said Saturday.

Houthi official Abdelqader al-Murtada said at a press conference in Sanaa that the prisoners had surrendered without fighting as the group captured strategic positions along the Red Sea in a major offensive last month.

The ICRC confirmed the unilateral release and said it supported the process by organising interviews and health checks, contacting families and helping arrange transport.

Murtada said 323 prisoners were released under the amnesty last month after surrendering in Hodeidah governorate.

The Houthis' war with Yemen's Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government reignited in July. The group seized Sanaa in 2014, forcing out the government and starting a war that has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and a humanitarian crisis.