Houthi strike on Yemen camp kills 73 recruits, officials say

Houthi forces fired three ballistic missiles at a government security training camp in Yemen’s Shabwa province on Monday, Oct. 19, killing at least 53 recruits, and a senior Yemeni official told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the toll had risen to 73.

Updated Oct. 21, 2026.

The strike is the deadliest in Yemen since fighting escalated about three months ago, AP reported, and more than 200 other recruits were wounded, Shabwa Gov. Awad Ibn al-Wazir said. The figures come from Yemeni officials and have not been independently verified.

The camp, known as al-Alam, is in the Jardan district north of the provincial capital of Ataq, AP reported. The BBC, citing the Shabwa media office, reported that a preliminary assessment on Monday put the dead at 53 and the injured at more than 200. The higher figure of 73 came a day later from the official AP cited, and some recruits were still missing Tuesday.

Al-Wazir said the recruits, aged 18 to 20, were being trained to provide security in the province, not to fight. “This had nothing to do with front lines,” he said. “They had not attacked anyone or advanced against anything. It was only to protect the security of their province.”

The Houthis claimed the attack. Military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the missiles targeted a gathering of “Saudi enemy” forces at a camp run by Saudi officers, the BBC reported. The Houthis did not give a casualty figure. Saudi authorities had not commented on the camp strike when the BBC published its report.

Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, condemned what he called a “criminal attack” and promised a “firm response,” the BBC reported. Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said the centre was not a military target and that the attack amounted to a war crime.

Several of the most seriously wounded were moved to hospitals in other provinces, officials told AP and AFP, with the BBC naming Hadramout and Aden. Shabwa’s deputy governor, Fahad al-Khalifi, told AFP that local hospitals were overwhelmed.

The camp sits on a supply line to the government-held province of Marib, in an area with major oil and gas production, AP reported. Shabwa, Marib and Hadramawt form what officials call the government’s “triangle of power.”

The attack came as the conflict spreads beyond Yemen. A four-year informal ceasefire began to unravel in July, when the Houthis announced a maritime embargo on Saudi Arabia and began missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities and Red Sea tankers, the BBC reported. AP said the escalation followed airstrikes on Sanaa’s airport in July. The two outlets describe who launched those strikes differently, and the Houthis blame Saudi Arabia.

On Tuesday, Saudi authorities issued an attack warning for the Riyadh area and said a Houthi ballistic missile was intercepted. An explosion was heard near King Khalid International Airport, which AP said has been attacked repeatedly this month and has suspended operations. Our earlier reports covered the Houthi missile strike on the Aden palace and the postponed EU-Gulf summit in Riyadh.

Britain said Tuesday it would expand support to Saudi Arabia to include defensive RAF jet patrols over Saudi cities, though it would not strike Houthi targets, AP reported. Tom Barrack, a U.S. envoy, told the Global Security Forum in Doha that Washington would supply logistical backing but that “America getting involved in a ground kinetic battle somewhere else seems fruitless.”

For Canadians, the clearest link so far is energy prices. Brent crude topped US$111 a barrel this week on Saudi claims of Houthi attacks, and Iran has offered to mediate between Riyadh and the Houthis. We found no Canadian government statement on the Shabwa strike. Current Global Affairs Canada advice for Yemen is posted at travel.gc.ca.

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Via AP and the BBC.