US embassy in Sanaa dismisses 360 ​​Yemen employees

The US Embassy in Yemen has sacked 360 Yemeni employees three years after its closure in the capital, Sanaa, as the country’s civil war continues.

US Ambassador Matthew Toler sent a letter to the staff on 6 February saying that “new rules issued by the US State Department on embassies that have been suspended indicate that he will not be able to keep them.”

It is not known if the measure if final or temporary, but Russian news site Sputnik said the US ambassador’s letter included a promise to return staff to their work once the embassy returned to Sana’a.

Toler said the staff would receive full end of service benefits.

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After the recent war in Yemen in 2014, the US Embassy in Sana’a closed its doors and moved its headquarters to the Saudi city of Jeddah.

Impoverished Yemen has remained in a state of civil war since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital Sana’a.

In 2015, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive air campaign aimed at reversing Houthi military gains and shoring up Yemen’s embattled government.

According to UN officials, more than 10,000 people have been killed in the war, while more than 11 per cent of the country’s population has been displaced.