Yemeni government, Houthis strike deal on prisoner exchange

The Yemeni government and the Houthi group announced a deal to swap thousands of prisoners after two weeks of negotiations hosted by Oman.

Government negotiator Majid Fadael said on Tuesday in a post on the US social media platform X that the two sides agreed to release “thousands of detainees and abductees.”

The Houthi group also confirmed the agreement with the Yemeni government to carry out a large-scale prisoner exchange.

The Houthi-led committee for prisoners’ affairs said the deal includes the release of 1,700 Houthi prisoners in exchange for 1,200 detainees, including seven Saudis and 23 Sudanese nationals.

The committee thanked Omani officials for their role in facilitating the deal.

A Yemeni government source told Anadolu on December 12 that negotiations had begun with the Houthis in Muscat for a prisoner swap.

The Yemeni government and the Houthis carried out a major prisoner exchange in April 2023, releasing around 900 prisoners and detainees from both sides, with mediation from the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN following negotiations in Switzerland.

2022 truce halted hostilities

Yemen has seen a relative state of calm since April 2022 following a truce that halted hostilities between Yemeni government forces and the Houthi group that erupted in September 2014 when the Iran-aligned group seized the capital Sanaa.

On January 25 2025, the Houthis unilaterally released 153 people captured during fighting with government forces.

The exact number of detainees held by both sides remains unclear.

During talks in Stockholm in 2018, government and Houthi delegations submitted lists of more than 15,000 prisoners and detainees, while rights groups estimate the figure to be at about 20,000.

Despite regional and international efforts, a comprehensive peace settlement has yet to be reached in Yemen. Recent security developments in southern Yemen have raised renewed concerns about the country’s possible fragmentation.