SHABWA, October 19, 2026 (DAILYNWZ) — A Houthi missile attack on a government security forces training camp in Yemen’s Shabwa province killed 53 people and wounded 200 on Monday, local authorities said, as fighting intensifies around strategic territory near the Red Sea.
Videos from Shabwa showed injured people and bloodied bodies scattered across the ground. Local authority sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Iran-aligned Houthi movement had fired three ballistic missiles at security forces during a training exercise.
The attack comes amid renewed fighting between the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognised government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition. The two sides have exchanged attacks since the Houthis advanced in September towards territory near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a vital shipping chokepoint at the southern entrance to the Red Sea.
Shabwa, a coastal province in south-central Yemen overlooking the Gulf of Aden, holds significant energy resources. It is also home to the Balhaf liquefied natural gas facility, the country’s largest industrial investment.
Government forces launched a campaign this month to retake areas held by the Houthis, recovering ground near the strait. Meanwhile, the Houthis have been besieging Taiz, the last major urban stronghold of anti-Houthi forces in Yemen’s southern highlands.
The escalation adds to concerns over the wider regional conflict. Yemen has become another front in the US-Israeli war on Iran, with the Houthis stepping up attacks on Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude oil exporter. Their targets have included Riyadh’s international airport and state oil company Saudi Aramco.
The latest violence also underscores the fragility of Yemen’s conflict, which began in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, forcing the government to move south. A Saudi-led military intervention followed in 2015, ushering in years of fighting and a bloody stalemate.
The warring sides agreed to a truce in 2022 that held until this year, but renewed hostilities have again threatened to deepen the crisis.
Yemen already faces one of the world’s worst humanitarian emergencies, with aid agencies warning that conditions are deteriorating rapidly. The latest attack adds to the toll on a country where years of conflict have left civilians increasingly vulnerable.