Houthi ballistic missiles kill 53 Yemeni soldiers

Agencies, Cairo

Published: 20 Oct 2026, 12:00 AM Updated: 20 Oct 2026, 12:07 PM

Houthi ballistic missiles kill 53 Yemeni soldiers

A A

Iran-backed Houthi rebels struck Yemeni government forces with ballistic missiles on Monday, killing at least 53 soldiers at a military camp in one of the deadliest attacks since a resurgence in fighting this summer.

The attack wounded an additional 200 recruits at the military camp in the southern province of Shabwa, the provincial government there said. The rebels acknowledged targeting the camp.

The fighting between the Houthis and Yemen’s Saudi-backed government forces is a widening front in the Iran war that began in February. The escalation shattered a 2022 ceasefire deal that largely stopped fighting in Yemen’s civil war.

The Houthis have put their growing military capabilities on display on multiple fronts in recent weeks, repeatedly striking Saudi Arabia’s main international airport hundreds of miles (kilometers) away and seizing territory inside Yemen near a key shipping chokepoint.

Saudi authorities sent brief alerts to residents of the capital Riyadh on Monday, with AFP journalists receiving phone messages warning of "a hostile aerial threat" weeks into intensified Houthi attacks on the kingdom.

Read More

Six injured after Houthi strike hits southern Saudi Arabia

"A warning has been issued by the National Early Warning Platform in Riyadh City to alert of a potential danger," Saudi civil defence said in a statement on X, also reporting the same warning for the nearby Kharj area.

Shortly after, the warning, which often signals incoming Houthi attacks, was lifted.

A woman in her thirties living in northern Riyadh said she heard the sound of explosions, adding: "we got used to this".

Egypt's parliament on Monday delayed a debate on President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's request to authorise military support for Saudi Arabia until next week, state media reported, after an emergency session ended without a decision. "House Speaker Hisham Badawi has just adjourned the second parliamentary session dedicated to discussing authorisation for taking necessary measures to support and assist the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with discussions set to resume on 26 October," the state-run Al-Akhbar newspaper reported.

Meanwhile, Iran's top diplomat on Monday accused the United States of being responsible for the "insecurity" in the Strait of Hormuz, which has been at the heart of the conflict between the foes.