Yemen’s Sunni government forces in Shabwa province come under devastating attack, leaving 58 dead and more than 200 injured at a government security training camp in Shabwa province. Governor Awad al-Wazir confirmed that 14 people are missing after the heavy bombing of Al-Alam camp.

Local authorities sources said the Houthis attacked security forces with three ballistic missiles during a routine training session. The inspection was conducted using verified video footage from the scene, which showed the facility was badly damaged and the injured people strewn all over the grounds of the facility.

The region of Shabwa, a peninsular, energy-dense province bordering the Gulf of Aden, is strategically important. It is the site of Yemen’s biggest industrial investment, the Balhaf liquefied natural gas plant.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree has admitted later to social media that he was responsible for the strike. He claimed that the Saudi forces had been operating the targeted camp. The Saudi-led coalition’s officials did not immediately respond when contacted about the incident.

The deadly assault comes as the Houthis rebel group and Yemen’s state-backed internationally recognized government fight a pitched battle. The government recently started a military campaign to retake territory it had lost around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key shipping choke point at the mouth of the Red Sea. At the same time, Houthi forces have surrounded the southern highlands’ last major anti-Houthi stronghold, Taiz.

Yemen remains a flashpoint in the broader regional tensions between the United States, Israel and Iran. The Houthis have recently increased their cross-border attacks against Saudi Arabia, including the international airport of Riyadh and facilities of the state oil company Saudi Aramco.

Since 2014, Yemen has been teeming with an intense civil war in which Houthi forces have taken over the capital city of Sanaa and exile the national government to the south of the country. A truce was observed in 2022, with strong backing from the United Nations, and for years battles were held in a bloody stalemate until this year, the truce was completely ignored.

The constant violence has worsened one of the world’s worst humanitarian situations, as international humanitarian groups alert to the worsening of living conditions for the civilian population.