Iran-Backed Houthis Kill 60 at Yemen Training Camp

An Iranian-backed Houthi missile strike killed 60 people at a Yemeni government training camp, officials said Tuesday. The dead included recruits not assigned to combat operations. More than 200 others were wounded, and at least a dozen people remained missing. The Shabwa provincial government said the Houthis fired three ballistic missiles at the al-Alam camp in southern Yemen.

The missiles struck as recruits lined up for a training session. Videos circulated online and analyzed by The Associated Press showed motionless bodies on the camp’s sandy ground. Officials said the dead were primarily new recruits. A local government official said several wounded recruits were in life-threatening condition and had been transferred to hospitals in other provinces.

The Camp and Its Security Role

Shabwa governor Awad Ibn al-Wazir said in televised comments aired by the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya satellite news television that recruits came from across Shabwa to train for security work in the province. “These recruits have never before participated in any mobilization or on any front,” he said. “They have no connection to the front lines ... they were (part of) a non-offensive security force.”

At least 15 of those killed came from a single Yemeni tribe, one local government official said. Another official said at least 15 recruits were from the Awlaki tribe, one of Yemen’s most powerful tribes, centered in Shabwa and Abyan provinces. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to brief the media.

The al-Alam camp sits in the Jardan district, north of the provincial capital, Ataq. It lies on a crucial supply line connecting to the government-controlled province of Marib. Shabwa, Marib and neighboring Hadramawt province contain Yemen’s “triangle of power,” where the country’s oil and gas production is located. A militia backed by the United Arab Emirates previously used the camp.

The Houthis claimed the attack, saying they had killed and wounded dozens, but offered no further details. The strike was described as the deadliest since fighting began escalating three months ago.

Missiles and the Wider Fighting

The attack came amid renewed fighting between the Houthis and forces from Yemen’s internationally recognized government and the Saudi-led coalition. Government and coalition airstrikes on Houthi-held Sanaa International Airport in July shattered a 2022 ceasefire deal that had largely stopped fighting in the country’s civil war.

The Houthis have also fired missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia. Saudi authorities issued an attack warning for the capital area late Tuesday morning. An explosion followed in northern Riyadh, where King Khalid International Airport is located. Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted a Houthi-fired ballistic missile, and authorities gave the all-clear a short time later. The airport had faced repeated Houthi attacks that month, forcing it to suspend operations.

The Houthis seized Sanaa and much of northern Yemen in 2014, forcing the government into exile. A Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year to try to restore the government to power. The conflict has killed more than 150,000 people and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.