More than 70 security personnel were killed in a Houthi missile strike on a training camp in Yemen’s central Shabwa province on Monday, local authorities said.
The attack was the deadliest reported since the recent escalation of the country’s civil war.
Three ballistic missiles hit training camp
The Saudi-backed Yemeni armed forces said the Iran-backed Houthis fired three ballistic missiles at al-Alam camp near Ataq city. The facility, also known as the Martyr Ahmed al-Sulaimani Training Centre, was being used to train recruits for the internal security forces and police.
Shabwa’s media office initially reported 53 deaths and 200 injuries. On Tuesday, it said the death toll had risen to 73, with another 14 people missing. Hospitals were overwhelmed, forcing officials to transfer the most seriously wounded to neighbouring Hadramout and Aden, according to Shabwa’s deputy governor, Fahad al-Khalifi.
Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council head, Rashad al-Alimi, condemned what he called a “criminal attack” and promised a “firm response”.
Both sides trade accusations
Yemen’s Information Minister, Moammar al-Eryani, described the strike as a war crime, arguing that the training centre was not a military target. He accused the Houthis of seeking to boost their fighters’ morale and conceal battlefield setbacks.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the missiles had targeted concentrations of “Saudi enemy” forces at the camp, which he claimed was run by Saudi officers. Saudi authorities had not immediately commented.
Separately, Houthi-run media said a Saudi air strike on a home in Saada province on Sunday killed at least 10 people and injured 23, many of them women and children. The Houthi-run health ministry said 141 people had been killed in Saudi strikes over seven weeks. Yemen’s government said at least 1,282 people had died in the conflict since 6 August.
Fighting intensifies across Yemen
The latest violence comes amid renewed fighting between the Houthis and pro-government forces. In early October, government forces launched an offensive to retake Houthi-controlled territory in western Yemen. Backed by a Saudi-led coalition, they regained parts of the Red Sea coast near the strategically important Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
Fighting continues around Taiz, Marib and al-Jawf. The Houthis have retaliated against Saudi air strikes with missile and drone attacks on airports, energy facilities and military bases.
Conflict dates back to 2014
Yemen’s civil war began in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa. The conflict escalated in 2015 after a Saudi-led coalition intervened to restore the government.
An informal ceasefire lasting four years began to unravel in July after the Houthis announced a “maritime embargo” against Saudi Arabia and launched attacks on its airports, oil facilities, and tankers in the Red Sea. The group said it was retaliating against a Saudi blockade and an air strike on Sanaa airport.
