Houthi ballistic missile strike kills 53 at Yemeni training camp

A Houthi ballistic missile hit the al-Alam training camp for Yemeni government security forces in Shabwa province in southern Yemen, resulting in at least 53 deaths and over 200 injuries, primarily among young recruits. The strike targeted the police and army training facility in the Jardan district. The wounded were transported to a hospital in Ataq, the provincial capital, where officials made urgent appeals for blood donations due to the scale of casualties.

The attack is the deadliest single incident since Yemen's civil war reignited in September, when the Houthis launched an offensive pushing south along the Red Sea coast in an attempt to seize control of the strategically important Bab al-Mandab waterway. Reliable casualty figures for the broader conflict over the past month are difficult to establish, though estimates suggest the toll has reached into the thousands. Separately, a Saudi airstrike on Sunday reportedly killed nine people, including five children and two women.

Rashad al-Alimi, president of the UN-recognised government, confirmed that those killed in the missile strike were new recruits and vowed an immediate and forceful response to the attack. An inquiry is expected to examine how so many troops were left exposed to the assault.