Death toll from Houthi strike on Yemen government camp rises to 73

Local Yemeni authorities on Tuesday (October 20, 2026) raised the death toll from a Houthi strike a day earlier on a military camp belonging to government forces to 73, as fighting between the foes escalates.

It marked the deadliest attack in weeks as fighting between the Iran-backed Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognised, Saudi-supported government rages after the collapse of a years-long truce.

The death toll from Monday’s (October 19) strike on the camp in the energy-rich Shabwa province “increased to 73 martyrs, while search and follow-up efforts are ongoing to discover the fate of 14 missing people”, provincial authorities said in a statement.

Local authorities had put the death toll at 53 on Monday (October 19), adding that more than 200 others were injured, all new members of the internal security forces who were undergoing training.

Majed al-Nuzaili, spokesperson for the Yemeni armed forces, stated Monday (October 19) on X that the Houthis targeted Shabwa with three ballistic missiles, and that the attack “struck a training center for personnel of security and police agencies.”

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree later confirmed that the group was responsible for the attack, saying it targeted “Saudi enemy gatherings in Al-Alam camp, which is run by a Saudi officer from the eastern regions”.

Shabwa contains major oil and gas fields and is home to the Balhaf liquefied natural gas terminal, the country’s largest energy facility and a key economic asset.

A government military source in the province on Monday said the army feared the strikes could pave the way for a ground offensive “similar to what happened in Mokha”, the strategic Red Sea port city seized by the Houthis last month.