Houthi attack on Yemeni government training camp in Shabwa kills 53, local authority says

As of 10:56 a.m. ET, Monday, Oct. 19, 2026

Fifty-three people were killed and 200 were injured on Monday in an attack by the Iran-aligned Houthis on a government security forces training camp in Yemen's Shabwa province, according to the local authority, Reuters reported.

The Associated Press reported that the attack killed at least 53 soldiers, citing Yemeni military officials, and wounded 200 recruits, citing the provincial government. The provincial government said in a statement that the death toll was preliminary, AP reported. Shabwa's deputy governor, Fahad al-Khalifi, told Agence France-Presse that at least 50 people had been killed and more than 100 injured, some of them in critical condition.

Local authority sources who spoke on condition of anonymity said the Houthis launched three ballistic missiles at security forces during a training exercise, Reuters reported. Reuters said video it had verified from Shabwa showed injured people and bloodied bodies scattered across the ground. The recruits were receiving training to join internal security forces, the provincial government said, according to AP.

"This bloody, treacherous attack targeted new recruits in the training and preparation phase and is considered an extremely critical military escalation and a blatant aggression on the security and stability of Shabwa province," the provincial government said in its statement, AP reported. The statement called on Yemen's president, the Saudi-led coalition and the government to speed up the provision of air defense and early warning systems for Shabwa, according to AP.

Hospitals in the province were overwhelmed and had to transfer the most seriously wounded to facilities in neighboring Hadramout and Aden, al-Khalifi told AFP.

Majed al-Nuzaili, spokesperson for Yemen's armed forces, wrote on X that the "Houthi militia targeted Shabwa with three ballistic missiles" and said the attack hit a training center for members of the security and police services, AFP reported. Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen's ruling Presidential Leadership Council, promised a "firm response," AP reported.

The Houthis have acknowledged targeting the camp, AP reported. GROKsiNEWS.com could not independently verify the casualty figures.

Background

The Houthis and Yemen's internationally recognized government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition, have been trading attacks since the group advanced in September toward territory near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the shipping chokepoint at the mouth of the Red Sea, Reuters reported. Government forces this month began a campaign to recapture areas controlled by the Houthis and recovered ground near the strait, according to Reuters.

Reuters described the conflict in Yemen as another front line in the wider U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, as the Houthis have escalated their attacks on Saudi Arabia, including on Riyadh's international airport and the state oil company Saudi Aramco.

War broke out in Yemen in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and drove the government south. A Saudi-led military intervention the following year led to a stalemate before a 2022 truce that held until this year, Reuters reported.