Nine foreign medics have been abducted by Shiite tribesmen in the Saada region in northwestern Yemen, including seven Germans, a Briton and a South Korean citizen.

On Friday, tribesmen released 24 local and foreign medical workers abducted from a hospital in the north a day earlier. The medical workers were released after the government promised it would free two prisoners.

Members of a Zaidi Shiite religious sect belonging to the al-Huthi clan began an insurrection in 2004 after their religious schools were closed. Human Rights Watch says the government has since made hundreds of unlawful arrests. The population of Yemen is nearly equally divided between Muslims of the Shiite and Sunni denominations.

Building in Sa'ada

Photo by Hoorob: (Flickr)