At least 18 killed in Houthi attack on Yemeni government military camp in Shabwa, sources say

· The Straits Times

Oct 19 - At least 18 people were killed in an attack on Monday by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement on a Yemeni government military training camp in Yemen's Shabwa province, four government and medical sources told Reuters.

The government sources said the attack, which targeted soldiers during a morning training, was carried out using three ballistic missiles.

Fighting between the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's internationally recognised government and the Houthis, who control the capital Sanaa and much of the north, has escalated in recent weeks, becoming another front in the wider regional conflict that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.

Earlier this month, government forces launched a campaign to recapture areas controlled by the Houthis, recovering ground near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key shipping chokepoint at the mouth of the Red Sea.

War broke out in Yemen in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa, driving the government south. A Saudi-led military intervention the following year led to a bloody stalemate before a 2022 truce that held until this year. REUTERS