Authorities in Yemen’s Shabwa province put the preliminary toll from an Oct. 19 Houthi missile strike at a training center at 53 recruits dead and more than 200 wounded, as fighting intensified.
The local authority identified the facility as the Ahmed al-Sulaimani training center near Ataq. Yemeni military spokesman Majed al-Nazili said three ballistic missiles hit a site where recruits were preparing for police and security work.
Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the group attacked Saudi-backed military gatherings at al-Alam camp. He claimed Saudi officers were among the casualties but gave no count. A separate Houthi-run Saba report placed al-Alam east of Al-Jawf. The accounts do not establish that al-Alam and the center near Ataq are the same facility.
An earlier Associated Press report, citing unnamed Yemeni military officials, put the toll at at least 20 killed and at least two dozen wounded. Reuters later reported the provincial authority’s higher figures and said it had verified video showing injured people and bodies in Shabwa.
The local authority said the recruits who died would be classified as having died in service. It pledged permanent salaries for their families and support for the wounded’s medical care.
The attack followed an Oct. 15 strike on the Al-Maashiq palace compound in Aden. Yemen’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said five security personnel were killed there and 16 other people were injured.
