The jihadist group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (Aqpa) released a video of a Bangladeshi United Nations employee kidnapped in Yemen in February, the American organization SITE, which specializes in monitoring radical groups, reported on Saturday.
The UN said in February that five of its employees returning to Aden after a "
field mission
" had been kidnapped in the governorate of Abyan (south).
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The conflict that has ravaged Yemen since 2014 pits government forces, supported in particular by neighboring Saudi Arabia, against Houthi rebels, supported by Iran.
Armed groups, including Al-Qaeda, are also active there.
In the video, a man identifying himself as Akam Sofyol Anam and identified by SITE as "
UN security director
" in Yemen, urges his employer to meet the demands of the jihadist group, which are not still known.
The hostage claims that his life, as well as those of his colleagues, is in danger and says he suffers
from "a serious health problem, which requires immediate attention
".
Created in 2009, the Aqpa group is considered by the United States to be the most dangerous branch of the jihadist network.
Aqpa took advantage of the chaos caused by the war in Yemen and carried out attacks against Houthis and government forces.
The organization has also claimed responsibility for attacks in the United States and Europe, such as the deadly attack on Charlie Hebdo in 2015 in Paris, but has suffered multiple defeats in recent years, losing territories and fighters.