Houthi Missiles Hit Shabwa Training Camp: Death Toll Put at 18 by Reuters Sources, Over 30 by AFP Sources

Since the Houthis advanced in September toward territory near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the government answered with its "Yemen's Dawn" campaign this month, the fighting has widened. Monday, Oct. 19, brought one of its deadliest single strikes yet.

Three Houthi ballistic missiles hit the al-Alam camp in Shabwa province, a facility training security and police recruits, according to Yemeni military spokesman Majed al-Nuzaili, who posted about it on X. Shabwa is an energy-rich province in south-central Yemen.

The death toll is not settled. Four government and medical sources told Reuters at least 18 people were killed. Two military sources told AFP the number was more than 30 dead and at least 70 wounded.

The Saba news agency, the government's outlet, said a number of army recruits were killed or injured but gave no breakdown. Footage from the aftermath shows bodies scattered across a wide stretch of sandy ground.

The government's response

Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, called the targeting of recruits a "cowardly terrorist attack," according to Saba. He said it reflected a Houthi habit of lashing out whenever the group faces pressure or its Iran-backed plans are thwarted. He ordered authorities to respond firmly.

A government military source in Shabwa, speaking anonymously, said the army fears the strike could pave the way for a ground offensive "similar to what happened in Mocha," when the Houthis seized that Red Sea port city. The same source said the Houthis cut the road linking government-held Shabwa with Houthi-controlled Al-Bayda province on Sunday, and that locals were blocked from using it.

No Houthi statement on the Shabwa strike had surfaced as of this morning.

A pattern of strikes on government sites

The camp attack follows a missile and drone strike on the Maashiq presidential palace in Aden. That attack killed five people, including two members of Prime Minister Shaya al-Zindani's security detail, and injured 16, according to Yemen's Health Ministry. Health Minister Qasim Mohammed Buhaibeh said the dead included security personnel and civilian employees.

The Houthis said they were targeting an alleged Saudi military operations center inside the compound. Their statement described "any military presence of the Saudi enemy" as "a legitimate target." The government says the prime minister and ministers were unharmed. Yemen's Cabinet said the attack would not slow its campaign against the Houthis.

The Houthis have also hit Aden airport, and they have escalated attacks on Saudi Arabia itself. Their targets there include Riyadh's international airport and state oil company Saudi Aramco. Saudi Arabia is the world's largest crude exporter.

Casualties on the other side

The Houthis describe their own losses. The Houthi health ministry said a Saudi-led coalition airstrike on the northern province of Saada killed at least nine people, including five children and two women. The group said that strike was among several attacks over the weekend that killed or injured more than 30 people. Those figures come from the Houthis and are unverified.

Taiz and the front lines

Government forces claim they recaptured Sanamat in Taiz governorate on Monday and advanced toward Misrakh in a counteroffensive. Houthi shelling killed one civilian and wounded five, according to the reports from the area.

The Houthis are trying to encircle Taiz city, the last major urban stronghold of anti-Houthi forces in the southern highlands. The UN has warned that food supplies there are running low.

Yemen was already among the worst humanitarian crises on earth, and aid agencies warn conditions are deteriorating rapidly. The 2022 truce that held for years collapsed this year, and the conflict is now another front in the wider US-Israeli war on Iran.

It is not yet clear whether the missile strike was a one-off or the opening move of a ground push toward Shabwa. The government source's Mocha comparison and the cut road to Al-Bayda point that way, but no ground offensive has been reported.

The casualty count is also unresolved. Reuters' 18 and AFP's more than 30 rest on different anonymous sources. The government has not issued an official breakdown of dead and wounded.