NEW YORK: The United Nations said Monday it has suspended its humanitarian operations in Saada, Yemen, after the detention of eight more UN staffers, affecting the response to one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters.

In a statement, the UN said the "extraordinary decision to pause all operations and programmes in northern Saada province was due to lack of "necessary security conditions and guarantees."

The UN statement said the pause in operations is meant to give the Houthis and the world body time to "arrange the release of arbitrarily detained UN personnel and ensure that the necessary conditions are in place to deliver critical humanitarian support.

It said the latest detained UN staffers included six working in Saada, on Yemen's northern border with Saudi Arabia, impacting the UN's ability to operate.