Five Bangladeshi sailors – who were held captive by Yemen's Houthi rebels along with 15 other Indian and Egyptian nationals for nearly nine months – have been freed and expected to return home soon.

Md Shahriar Alam, the state minister for foreign affairs and Rajshahi 6 MP, made the disclosure in Facebook a post on Wednesday afternoon.

He said: “The five Bangladeshi sailors who were held captive by Houthi rebels in Yemen's Sana for nine months have been freed.”

"They were released following a two-month long joint effort made by Bangladesh Missions in Oman and Kuwait and Indian Mission in East African country Djibouti," the state minister said. 

Shahriar Alam also said that the freed sailors are expected to arrive in Aden, a port city of Yemen, on Thursday.

"From there, they are expected to come to Bangladesh through India with the support from International Organization for Migration (IOM)," he added. 

Twenty seamen, including five Bangladeshis, have been detained by Houthi rebels in Yemen in February this year.

Of the captured men, 13 are Indians and two are Egyptians, said a report published by Indian newspaper The New Indian Express on Sunday.

The detainees are crew of three ships which set off to Saudi Arabia from Oman but anchored off Yemen coast.

Sana’a is under the control of Houthis as civil war is raging in Yemen. Houthis have a long history of kidnapping foreign nations for ransom.

BDST: 1830 HRS, DEC 02, 2020
AP/SMS