Houthi missiles kill 53 as recruits assemble at training camp in Yemen

At least 53 members of Yemen’s government forces were killed on Monday, 19 October, when Houthi missiles struck a training camp in the country’s south. Around 200 others were injured. Three ballistic missiles hit al-Alam camp in Shabwa province as recruits stood in formation for a training session. The attack deepens a conflict that flared again in September and increases pressure on Saudi Arabia, which supports Yemen’s internationally recognised government.

Many of the victims were young men still preparing to serve in the security forces. The provincial government’s provisional casualty figures underline the devastation caused when the missiles hit the crowded training ground. Hospitals across the region were overwhelmed by the number of wounded.

Hospitals overwhelmed as officials demand air defences

The injured were taken from the camp in Jardan district to a hospital in Ataq, the provincial capital, where an appeal went out for blood donations. Shabwa’s governor, Awad bin al-Wazir, visited wounded recruits and called for additional air defences. Government forces were fighting on six fronts, he said.

Provincial authorities urged Yemen’s leadership and the Saudi-led military coalition to speed up the provision of air defence and early-warning systems. An investigation is also planned into why so many recruits were able to gather within range of ballistic missiles without adequate protection.

The camp lies north of Ataq, on a road towards government-controlled Marib province and important supply routes. It was previously used by a militia backed by the United Arab Emirates. The recruits hit in this attack belonged to a newly formed rapid reaction force intended to protect the region.

A government spokesman stressed that the site was a training centre for Shabwa’s internal security forces, not a military target connected to the current fighting. The young men, he said, had been preparing for their future duties far from the front line.

Houthis portray strike as retaliation against Saudi Arabia

The Iran-backed Houthi militia described the attack as retaliation against Saudi Arabia. Its military spokesman said Saudi officers ran the camp and claimed that Saudi officers were among those killed and wounded. That claim has not been confirmed. Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to the account.

Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, promised a firm response and described the attacks as “cowardly terrorist attacks”. In a telephone conversation with UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday, he called for the Houthis to be designated a terrorist organisation.

The competing accounts place the strike squarely within the wider conflict. Yemen’s government describes an attack on young security personnel undergoing training; the Houthis portray the camp as part of Saudi Arabia’s war effort. The heavy loss of life among recruits remains undisputed.

Yemen’s war has continued since 2014. A truce agreed in 2022 largely contained the fighting, but collapsed this year. Since September, clashes between the Houthis and troops loyal to the internationally recognised government have intensified again. Civilians are also being killed: a Saudi air strike on Sunday left nine people dead, including five children and two women.

Fighting reaches Saudi airports and investment plans

The Red Sea coast is a focal point of the latest fighting. Houthi forces have advanced southwards there in an effort to extend their influence over the Bab al-Mandab strait. Government troops have launched an offensive of their own to recapture territory near the strategically important passage.

Fighting is also taking place around Taiz. Conditions for its population are deteriorating as the Houthis close access routes to the city.

Alongside these battles, the militia has repeatedly attacked Saudi airports, oil facilities and military installations. Targets have included Riyadh airport and the headquarters of oil company Aramco. The airport reopened at the weekend, but some airlines were initially unwilling to resume their services.

The uncertainty is now affecting Saudi Arabia’s international economic agenda. The Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, often nicknamed “Davos in the desert”, has been postponed until next year. The investor conference had been due to begin the following week. Despite the nickname, it is not the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland.

Why the escalation matters for Switzerland

For Switzerland, the main economic concern is the security of trade routes. Bab al-Mandab connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and forms part of the shipping route between Asia and Europe through the Suez Canal.

Goods bound for Switzerland also travel through international seaports before continuing overland. An unsafe passage can force ships to take longer routes, lengthening delivery times and increasing transport costs. No specific new effects on Swiss shipments have been established so far. The risk to this corridor nevertheless gives the renewed fighting significance well beyond Yemen and its neighbours.

What happens next will also depend on regional powers. Egypt’s parliament has postponed until 26 October a vote on possible military support for Saudi Arabia. The potential scale of such an operation remains unclear.

In Shabwa, the immediate priorities are treating the wounded and protecting other camps from further strikes. Whether the response promised by Yemen’s leadership will trigger additional attacks is uncertain. For now, the heavy casualties at al-Alam have sharpened demands for protection while the wider conflict continues to spread its consequences across the region.