Houthi missile strike on Yemen camp kills 53 in deadliest single attack

At least 53 people were killed when Houthi forces struck a Yemeni government security forces training camp in Shabwa province with ballistic missiles. It was the deadliest single loss of life since Yemen’s civil war reignited in September.

Three missiles hit al-Alam camp in the Jardan district as recruits stood in formation. More than 200 people were reportedly injured, most of them young recruits, and taken to a hospital in Ataq, where officials appealed for blood donations.

Rashad al-Alimi, president of Yemen’s UN-recognised government, said those killed were new recruits and promised an immediate response. He also asked UN secretary general António Guterres to designate the Houthis a foreign terrorist organisation.

Camp strike and government response

Yemen’s government said the site was a training centre for new internal security recruits in Shabwa, not a military target connected to the frontlines. The provincial authority called the strike a military escalation, while governor Awad bin al-Wazir demanded stronger air defences. An inquiry will examine why so many troops were left exposed to a missile attack.

A Houthi military spokesperson said the camp contained Saudi enemy mobilisations run by Saudi officers and claimed dozens of dead and wounded. The government rejected that description.

Fighting near Bab al-Mandab

The Houthis began a fresh offensive against forces backing the UN-recognised government in mid-September, moving south along the Red Sea coast. They have also cut the road between government-held Shabwa and Houthi-controlled Bayda governorate.

The Houthis separately claimed six strikes against Yemen’s anti-Houthi Giant Brigades in the areas of al-Suqya and Ras al-Ara. Southern forces were reportedly advancing against Houthi positions near the Bab al-Mandab strait, the route linking the Red Sea with the Indian Ocean.

Fighting is also under way around Taiz, where the Houthis are attempting to impose a siege. Access routes are narrowing, while residents have called for greater air protection.

Saudi and Egyptian decisions

Reliable assessments of total casualties in the past month are difficult to obtain, but the death toll is reportedly in the thousands. A Saudi airstrike on Sunday separately killed nine people, including five children and two women.

Egypt’s parliament postponed a vote on sending troops to Saudi Arabia. The vote is now likely next week and requires a two-thirds majority; disagreements concern the mission’s scope and whether Egyptian forces could be sent into Yemen.

The Houthis also struck Saudi Aramco’s headquarters, while some airlines said they would not yet resume flights to Riyadh airport, which reopened at the weekend.