In brief
The Iranian‑backed Houthi rebels launched three ballistic missiles at the al‑Alam training camp in Shabwa province, killing 53 recruits and wounding more than 200. The attack, said by Yemeni officials to be a war crime, occurs amid a Saudi‑led coalition campaign to wrest control from the Houthis. Pro‑government forces have escalated their offensive in the north and west, while the Houthis retaliated with missile and drone attacks on Saudi targets. The strike underscores the humanitarian toll of Yemen’s decade‑long civil war and raises questions about the protection of non‑combatants in conflict zones.
More than 50 recruits of Yemen’s internal security forces were killed and over 200 wounded when three ballistic missiles struck a training centre near Ataq, in the war‑torn Shabwa province, local officials said on Monday.
The attack was carried out by the Iran‑backed Houthis against the al‑Alam camp, which was being used to train volunteers slated for service in local police and gendarmerie units. The camp, located by the road to the city of Taiz, is not a conventional military base.
Rashad al‑Alimi, head of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, condemned the assault as a "criminal attack" and vowed a "firm response." In contrast, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the missiles targeted a gathering of "Saudi enemy" forces operated by Saudi officers.
Yemen’s civil war, which erupted in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital, has intensified in recent months. A Saudi‑backed offensive launched in early October seeks to reclaim territory on the Red Sea coast, regaining areas such as the Bab al‑Mandab Strait but facing ongoing fighting in Taiz and northern provinces.
Hospitals in Shabwa have been overwhelmed, with critically injured recruits sent to hospitals in Hadramout and Aden, the seat of the internationally recognised government. The Yemeni Information Minister Moammar al‑Eryani dubbed the strike a war crime, arguing that a training centre should not be considered a legitimate military target.
The incident follows a spate of Houthi missile and drone strikes on Saudi infrastructure, including airports and oil facilities. Saudi forces have responded with air strikes, one of which reportedly killed more than ten civilians in the Houthi‑controlled Saada province on Sunday.
Over the past seven weeks, Houthi‑run sources said 141 people had been killed in Saudi strikes, while the Yemeni health ministry attributes at least 1,282 deaths to the conflict since early August. The kingdom has likewise reported casualties in its own territory, with 19 fatalities linked to Houthi attacks on airports since October.
The Shabwa strike is one of the deadliest incidents seen since the escalation of hostilities, highlighting the dire human cost of a war that has turned Yemen into a theatre of proxy conflict and humanitarian crisis. The protection of civilians and non‑combatants remains a pressing concern as both sides continue to pursue their strategic objectives in the region.
