ADEN, South Yemen: The United Nations has reported that five staff members were kidnapped in southern Yemen while returning to Aden after a field mission.

Russell Geekie, spokesman for the top UN official in Yemen, said the staff were abducted on February 11 in Abyan Governorate.

“The UN is in close contact with the authorities to secure their release,” he added.

Meanwhile, the country’s official news agency, citing a cabinet statement, said Yemen’s internationally recognised government, which is based in south Yemen, was working to free the UN staff abducted by unknown gunmen.

A UN official in Aden told Reuters that four of those seized were Yemeni nationals.

Yemen has been in crisis since the Iran-aligned Houthi militias ousted the government from the capital, Sanaa, in late 2014, prompting a military coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, to intervene.

In addition, Yemen’s many destabilising forces include Islamist militant groups Al Qaeda and Islamic State, which have carried out attacks, including in the south where protests over deteriorating economic conditions took place last year.

The war has killed tens of thousands of people and caused a dire humanitarian crisis, with 80 percent of Yemenis being reliant on aid.