At least 53 people were killed and around 200 others injured on Monday in an attack by the Iran-backed Houthi militia on a government security forces training camp in Yemen’s Shabwa province, according to local authorities, as fighting intensifies across the war-torn country.
Video verified by Reuters from Shabwa showed injured people and bloodied bodies scattered across the ground following the attack, which targeted security forces during a training exercise.
Local officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Houthis had launched three ballistic missiles at the security forces while the training exercise was underway.
The Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognized government have been exchanging attacks since September, when the group advanced toward areas near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a strategic maritime chokepoint at the entrance to the Red Sea.
Located in south-central Yemen along the Gulf of Aden, Shabwa is an energy-rich province that hosts the Balhaf liquefied natural gas facility, the country’s largest industrial investment.
Meanwhile, government forces launched a military campaign earlier this month aimed at recapturing areas under Houthi control and regaining ground near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The Houthis, in turn, have continued their siege of Taiz, the last major urban stronghold of anti-Houthi forces in Yemen’s southern highlands, as fighting continues to intensify.
