ADEN, Yemen — Houthi ballistic missiles struck a government security forces training camp in Yemen’s Shabwa province on Monday, killing at least 18 people, government and medical sources told Reuters, according to The National.
Tolls varied. A government military official and a medical source told China’s Xinhua news agency that at least 25 soldiers were killed and more than 30 injured, while Shabwa’s deputy governor said about 40 people were killed or wounded at the Al-Alam camp in Jardan district, Anadolu Agency reported, citing the local outlet Yemen Monitor.
The Iran-aligned Houthis fired three ballistic missiles at a center training security and police recruits, Yemeni military spokesman Majed al-Nuzaili said on X. There was no immediate comment from the Houthis.
Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, said the targeting of recruits reflected the Houthis’ practice of resorting to “cowardly terrorist attacks” whenever they faced pressure, and ordered authorities to respond firmly, the state Saba news agency reported.
Fighting has intensified since the Houthis advanced in September toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Government forces this month launched a campaign to recapture Houthi-held areas, while the group besieges Taiz. The Houthis have also fired dozens of drones and missiles at Saudi Arabia, including an attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport that killed 13 people, as Al Jazeera reported.
The spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, has confirmed the presence of an unnamed external state actor behind the Houthis’ evolving arsenal, amid media reports of support from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, which Iran and the Houthis deny.
Sources: The National, Anadolu Agency, Xinhua, Al Jazeera
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