The United States on Thursday called on Houthi rebels who control Yemen's capital Sanaa to release an unspecified number of local residents who work for the U.S. embassy.

The compound that used to serve as the embassy, before operations were moved to Saudi Arabia years ago because of Yemen's civil war, has been breached, the State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Thursday. 

The spokesperson also called on the Houthis to "immediately vacate" the embassy compound and return all seized property.