Houthi Missiles Kill 53 at Yemen Security Camp

Three ballistic missiles struck the Al Alam military training camp in Yemen’s Shabwa province on Monday, October 19, killing at least 53 people and injuring 200, local authorities said, according to several reports. The recruits were preparing to join internal security forces. Shabwa authorities said the preliminary death toll could rise.

The Houthis acknowledged targeting the camp. A Yemeni military official, speaking anonymously because they weren’t authorized to talk to the media, said the missiles hit as recruits lined up for a training session. L’Orient Today reported more than 30 people killed and at least 70 wounded.

Missile Strike on Security Recruits

Majed al-Nuzaili, spokesperson for the Yemeni armed forces, wrote on X that the “Houthi militia targeted Shabwa with three ballistic missiles.” He said the strike hit a training centre for security and police services. The provincial government called it an “extremely critical military escalation and a blatant aggression on the security and stability of Shabwa province.” It urged Yemen’s president, the Saudi-led coalition and the government to expedite air-defense and early-warning systems.

Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen’s ruling Presidential Leadership Council, promised a “firm response.” He said the attack reflected the Houthis’ “approach of resorting to cowardly terrorist attacks whenever they face pressures or their Iranian-backed sabotage plots falter.” A military source in Shabwa told AFP the army feared the strikes could come before a ground offensive “similar to what happened in Mocha,” referring to the Houthis’ seizure of the strategic port city near the Bab el-Mandab strait.

The source said the Houthis had cut a road linking government-held Shabwa with Houthi-controlled Al-Bayda province on Sunday. Locals said they couldn’t use it. The attack came as fighting intensified between the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognized government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition.

Pressure Near a Shipping Chokepoint

The Houthis advanced in September toward territory near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a shipping chokepoint at the mouth of the Red Sea. Government forces began a campaign this month to recapture Houthi-controlled areas and regain ground near the strait. The Houthis are also besieging Taiz, the last major urban stronghold of anti-Houthi forces in Yemen’s southern highlands.

The Saudi-led coalition launched a major offensive this month to push the rebels from the strategic Red Sea coast and retake territory near the strait. The missile attack followed the collapse of a 2022 cease-fire deal that had largely halted fighting. The war began in 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and drove the government south. A Saudi-led military intervention followed in 2015. The sides later agreed to a truce that held until this year.

Iranian Links and Regional Stakes

Reports describe the Houthis as Iran-aligned or Iran-backed, and the fighting has become another front in the wider war involving the United States, Israel and Iran. Iran and its allies in Lebanon and Iraq provide the Houthis with expertise, training and sophisticated weapons, according to U.N. and other experts. Iran denies arming the group, which would violate a U.N. embargo.

The Houthis have repeatedly struck Saudi Arabia’s main international airport, along with Saudi airports, oil and military facilities, including the headquarters of state oil company Aramco. They have also seized territory near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a shipping alternative to the Strait of Hormuz. Shabwa, where the camp was struck, is an energy-rich province overlooking the Gulf of Aden and home to the Balhaf liquefied natural gas facility, Yemen’s largest industrial investment.

A separate airstrike blamed on Saudi-led forces killed at least nine people in the Houthi-held northern province of Saada on Sunday, the Houthi-run Health Ministry said. Five children and two women were among those killed. Saudi Arabia made no immediate comment. Yemen is already facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Aid agencies have warned conditions are deteriorating rapidly. Reuters-verified video from Shabwa showed injured people and bloodied bodies scattered across the ground.