Houthi missile strike on Yemen camp kills 50 security recruits, local authorities say — SkimNews
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- Houthi forces launched three ballistic missiles at al-Alam camp in Yemen's Shabwa province, killing at least 53 security recruits and injuring more than 200 at the Martyr Ahmed al-Sulaimani Training Centre, where recruits from several provinces were training for internal security forces and police.
- Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council head Rashad al-Alimi condemned the attack as "criminal" and vowed a "firm response"; Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani called it a war crime, arguing the training centre was not a military target.
- Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the missiles targeted "Saudi enemy concentrations" at a camp he claimed was run by Saudi officers, while a spokesman for the Saudi-backed Yemeni armed forces said the "Iran-backed group" carried out the launch.
- Shabwa's deputy governor Fahad al-Khalifi said hospitals in the province were overwhelmed and had transferred the most critical patients to neighbouring Hadramout and Aden, where the government is based; a video posted on social media showed bodies scattered across the ground.
- The strike is one of the deadliest since Yemen's civil war reignited in early October, when pro-government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition launched an offensive to retake Houthi-held territory, including Red Sea coast areas overlooking the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait.
- Since October, Houthi attacks on Saudi airports have killed at least 19 people; in the other direction, a Saudi air strike on a home in Saada's Sahar district on Sunday killed at least 10 people and injured 23, many of them women and children, per Houthi-run media, with the government health ministry reporting at least 1,282 killed across Yemen since 6 August.
Why it matters: The strike is the deadliest single incident since Yemen's civil war reignited in October, when pro-government forces and a Saudi-led coalition launched a western offensive. With at least 19 killed in Houthi strikes on Saudi airports and 1,282+ dead across Yemen since August, the tit-for-tat escalation is increasingly hitting civilian-adjacent targets like police training centres and family homes.
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