The death toll from a Houthi missile strike on a government military camp in southern Yemen rose to 60 people, primarily new recruits, making it the deadliest strike since fighting in the country began escalating three months ago, Yemeni officials said Tuesday.
At least a dozen people were still missing a day after the Iranian-backed rebels hit the al-Alam training camp in the southern province of Shabwa with ballistic missiles, three officials said.
Monday’s strike was part of a recent surge of fighting in Yemen, which started when forces from the internationally-recognized government and Saudi-led coalition launched airstrikes on Houthi-held Sanaa International Airport in July, shattering a 2022 ceasefire deal that largely stopped fighting in the country’s civil war.
The Houthis have also fired missiles and drones on Saudi Arabia, which has struggled to counter the Houthi attacks, even with far superior U.S.-supplied arms.
The strike on the al-Alam camp hit while recruits were lining up in formation for a training session. Videos from the area circulated online and analyzed by The Associated Press showed many motionless bodies lying on the sandy ground of the camp.
More than 200 other recruits were also wounded, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.
One of the officials, from the local government, said several suffered serious injuries and were transferred to hospitals in other provinces in life-threatening condition. He said at least 15 of the recruits killed were from a single Yemeni tribe.
In televised comments aired by the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya satellite news television, Shabwa governor Awad Ibn al-Wazir said the dead were new recruits from across Shabwa being trained to provide security in the province and not combat operations.
“These recruits have never before participated in any mobilization or on any front,” he said. “They have no connection to the front lines they were (part of) a non-offensive security force.”
The Shabwa provincial government said in a statement Monday that the Houthis fired three ballistic missiles on the camp. The Houthis claimed the attack, saying they had killed and wounded dozens but did not provide further details.