Houthi Missile Strike on Yemeni Recruit Camp Killed 73, Governor Says, Deadliest Single Attack of the Renewed War

Since the Houthis widened their missile campaign against Saudi Arabia this month, the deadliest single strike has landed on Yemeni soil, not Saudi. Shabwa Governor Awad Ibn al-Wazir told The Associated Press on Tuesday, Oct. 20, that 73 people died when ballistic missiles hit the al-Alam training camp the day before. Some recruits were still missing, he said.

Early counts were lower. Initial reports put the dead at 53, with more than 200 wounded. The wounded figure has held at more than 200.

What happened at the camp

The governor said the victims were new recruits from across Shabwa province, all between 18 and 20, being trained for provincial security duty, not combat. They were lined up in formation for a training session when the missiles hit, he said. Videos from the area analyzed by The Associated Press showed many motionless bodies on the sandy ground.

The Guardian reported that three ballistic missiles struck the camp. Wounded recruits were taken to a hospital in the provincial capital, Ataq, where appeals for blood donations went out. Yemen's state news agency SABA identified the site as the Martyr Ahmed Al-Sulaimani Training Center on the outskirts of Ataq.

"This had nothing to do with front lines," Ibn al-Wazir said. "They had not attacked anyone or advanced against anything. It was only to protect the security of their province."

Yemeni Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani called the strike a war crime and said the facility was a training center, not a military target tied to active combat. Ibn al-Wazir said troops in Shabwa are fighting across six fronts and asked for more air defenses.

The Houthi account

The Houthis do not dispute that they fired. Their military spokesperson said forces targeted "the Saudi enemy's mobilisations in al-Alam camp, which is run by Saudi officers in the eastern regions." He claimed the strike killed dozens, including Saudi officers.

He also warned Yemenis against answering Saudi calls to enlist, saying they were being lured "with his defiled money to the pyres of death."

No source in the reporting backs the claim that Saudi officers were killed. The Yemeni government says every victim was a young Yemeni recruit.

Government response

Rashad al-Alimi, president of the UN-recognized government, vowed an immediate hard response. He called Guterres on Monday and asked the UN to classify the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization. The Guardian reported that an inquiry will examine how so many recruits were left exposed to missile fire.

The Houthis have also cut the road between government-held Shabwa and Houthi-held Bayda, according to the Guardian. Shabwa is energy-rich and home to the Balhaf liquefied natural gas facility, Yemen's largest industrial investment.

Saudi Arabia and the wider war

The same day, Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed attacks on a Saudi naval task force camp and on Aramco facilities in Yanbu, the Shaybah oil field, Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport, Abha airport and several air bases and radar sites. Saudi authorities did not directly confirm the claims.

Houthi political bureau member Mohammed Al Bukhaiti told AFP that if the U.S. joins Saudi strikes, there will be a "swift and painful response targeting the US and all its interests in the region." He also told workers at Saudi oil facilities and airports to stay away because they are "legitimate targets."

President Trump, after speaking with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, called the Oct. 10 Riyadh airport attack, which killed 13, "not acceptable." On Oct. 13 he accused the Houthis of trying to push up oil prices before the Nov. 3 midterms. Brent crude closed Monday, Oct. 19, at $106.65, its highest since Sept. 15, before slipping in Asian trading the next day.

On Sunday, Oct. 25, the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted two drones and a ballistic missile aimed at Riyadh, a cruise missile aimed at Khamis Mushait and 10 more ballistic missiles headed for southern Saudi Arabia. Saree said Riyadh's airport remains a "military target." Two of its terminals resumed operations Sunday.

The toll on civilians

The Houthi-run Ministry of Health and Environment said that from Sept. 3 through Oct. 18, 141 people were killed and 395 wounded, with women and children making up the largest share. The Guardian reported that reliable assessments of deaths across the past month are hard to gather and that the true figure may run far higher. It also reported that a Saudi airstrike on Sunday, Oct. 18, killed nine, including five children and two women.

The ceasefire that largely held after 2022 has collapsed. AP reported that fighting escalated after government and Saudi-led coalition airstrikes on Sanaa International Airport in July. The Houthis then pushed along the Red Sea coast in September toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The open questions are specific. Guterres has not publicly answered Alimi's request for a terrorist designation. The inquiry into the camp's exposure has no announced timeline. Saudi Arabia and the U.S. have not said whether they will respond to the Shabwa strike.