Yemeni rebels release foreign hostages

The White House says two Americans held in Yemen have been released and are in Oman.

A statement from the National Security Council doesn't identify the Americans.But a spokesman for a New Orleans-based logistics company confirms that employee Scott Darden was freed. The company, Transoceanic Development, says Darden was helping to deliver aid throughout the region for Transoceanic and relief organizations among its clients.

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• ISIS claims responsibility for double bombing at Yemen mosque
• Millions of people in Yemen are on the brink of starvation

The White House is thanking the government of Oman for helping secure the release of the detainees.

Earlier Sunday,Yemen's Shiarebels and officials at the airport in the country's capital, Sanaa, saidsix foreign hostages werereleased after being held in the city for more than five months.

The officials saidthe hostages were three Americans, two Saudis and a British national, however later reports from the Associated Press cite only two Americans. The officials toldthe Associated Pressthat the released hostages boarded a plane Sunday to Oman, which negotiated their release.

Houthi officials refused to give the reasons for the detention of the hostages. But at least one of them is a journalist, whom they said "entered the country illegally" and "worked without notifying the authorities."

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they werenot authorized to brief reporters.