RIYADH(newsviews): At least 53 people were killed and 200 others injured on Monday in a Houthi attack on a government security forces training camp in Yemen’s Shabwa province, local authorities said, as fighting in the impoverished country intensifies.

Local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Houthis launched three ballistic missiles at security forces during a training exercise. Video from Shabwa province verified by Reuters showed injured people and bloodied bodies scattered across the ground.

The attack came amid escalating hostilities between the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognised government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, with both sides trading attacks since the group advanced in September toward territory near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a strategic shipping chokepoint at the mouth of the Red Sea.

The fighting in Yemen has become another front in the wider US-Israeli war with Iran, as the Houthis step up attacks on Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude oil exporter.

Riyadh alerts

Saudi authorities on Monday issued brief phone alerts to residents of the capital, Riyadh, and the nearby Kharj area, warning of a “hostile aerial threat”.

“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.

Hours later, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for six military operations over 48 hours using ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones.

Saree said the attacks targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Aramco facilities in Yanbu on the Red Sea coast and the Shaybah oil field near the United Arab Emirates border.

Other strikes targeted Abha International Airport, radar installations and Khamis Mushait air base in the southwest, alongside a naval camp and radar site in Bir Askar in the south.

Saree claimed the three-stage attack on the Riyadh airport achieved “accurate and direct” strikes in retaliation for more than 200 Saudi airstrikes and missile attacks on Houthi-held areas over the previous 48 hours.

He vowed to continue operations “towards the Saudi interior” under a policy of “escalation for escalation” until attacks on Yemen cease.