In brief
In a recent Houthi offensive, ballistic missiles struck the Martyr Ahmed al‑Sulaimani Training Centre near Ataq in Yemen’s Shabwa province, killing 53 recruits and injuring over 200. The attack, condemned as a war crime by Yemen’s government, targeted a centre for internal security forces and was described by the Houthis as striking “Saudi enemy” personnel. Hospitals in the region are overwhelmed, prompting transfers to Hadramout and Aden. The incident comes amid a broader escalation that includes Saudi‑led air raids on Houthi positions and counter‑attacks on Saudi infrastructure. Thousands have already lost their lives in the decade‑long conflict as each side seeks to assert control over the country’s strategic regions.
More than 50 security recruits killed in Shabwa missile strike
On Monday, the Iran‑backed Houthi movement fired a swarm of ballistic missiles at the Martyr Ahmed al‑Sulaimani Training Centre, a government‐run facility near Ataq in Yemen’s central Shabwa province. The attack claimed 53 lives and left more than 200 wounded.
The Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the missiles targeted a gathering of “Saudi enemy” forces under the camp’s command, claiming the strike was a counter‑action to the Saudi‑led coalition’s campaign. Conversely, Yemeni officials denounced the attack as a criminal act and a war crime, arguing that the site was a training center for internal security personnel rather than a legitimate military target.
Shabwa’s deputy governor, Fahad al‑Khalifi, reported that local hospitals were overwhelmed, prompting the transfer of severely injured recruits to neighboring Hadramout and Aden for treatment. The incident is among the deadliest in the recent flare‑up of fighting that spans western, southern, tribal, and northern Yemen.
Yemen’s civil war, which erupted in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital, has intensified since Saudi‑backed forces entered the conflict in 2015 to restore the internationally recognised government. Current hostilities have escalated into a full‑scale campaign that includes airstrikes on Houthi positions, missile and drone attacks on Saudi infrastructure, and widespread civilian casualties.
According to government health ministry figures, at least 1,282 civilians and combatants have died in the conflict since 6 August. The Houthi‑run health ministry claims that 141 people were killed in Saudi air strikes over the past seven weeks, while the government cites a total of 1,282 deaths across Yemen for the same period.
