Yemen War Escalates as Missile Strike Kills 53

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

The strike in Shabwa

L’Orient Today reported a lower toll: more than 30 people killed and at least 70 wounded. Reuters-verified video from Shabwa showed injured people and bloodied bodies scattered across the ground.

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.

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.

Shabwa’s provincial government called the attack 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 precede 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 cut a road linking government-held Shabwa with Houthi-controlled Al-Bayda province on Sunday. Locals said the Houthis prevented them from using it.

Fighting near the strait

The strike came as fighting intensified between the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognized government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition. In September, the Houthis advanced 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 besieging Taiz, the last major urban stronghold of anti-Houthi forces in Yemen’s southern highlands. The Saudi-led coalition also launched a major offensive this month to dislodge the rebels from the strategic Red Sea coast and retake territory near the strait.

Daily Sabah described the Shabwa attack as one of the deadliest since fighting surged in the summer. Reports said the escalation had shattered a 2022 cease-fire deal that largely halted fighting; L’Orient Today said the truce had largely held since 2022 before collapsing.

The war began in 2014. The Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and drove the government south. A Saudi-led military intervention followed in 2015, leading to a bloody stalemate until the sides agreed to the 2022 truce.

Wider war and civilian toll

The fighting has become another front in the wider war involving the United States, Israel and Iran. Reports describe the Houthis as Iran-aligned or Iran-backed. 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.

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. The rebels said several strikes over the weekend killed or wounded more than 30 people. Saudi Arabia made no immediate comment.

Yemen is already one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, and aid agencies warn that conditions are deteriorating rapidly. Shabwa is an energy-rich province in south-central coastal Yemen overlooking the Gulf of Aden. It’s home to the Balhaf liquefied natural gas facility, Yemen’s largest industrial investment.