IRANIAN-BACKED Houthi rebels struck a military camp for Government forces in southern Yemen on Monday, killing at least 53 soldiers, provincial authorities in Shabwa said on Monday, making it one of the deadliest attacks in the recent surge in fighting. The rebels fired three ballistic missiles on the al-Alam military camp in the southern province of Shabwa in an attack that also wounded 200 recruits, the Shabwa provincial Government said. The Iran-backed rebels have acknowledged targeting the camp in Shabwa.

 

Shabwa provincial Government said in a statement that the death toll is preliminary, suggesting it may rise. It said the recruits were receiving training to be part of internal security forces. “This bloody, treacherous attack targeted new recruits in the training and preparation phase and is considered an extremely critical military escalation and a blatant aggression on the security and stability of Shabwa province,” the statement said. It called on Yemen’s president, the Saudi-led coalition and the Government to expedite providing air defence and early warning systems to reinforce Shabwa’s capabilities.