The death toll from the Houthi missile attack on a security training camp in Yemen’s Shabwa province rose to 73, the provincial media office said on October 20, according to Reuters. Fourteen people remained missing and more than 200 were injured. The revised figure follows Governor Awad al-Wazir’s earlier account of 58 deaths after Monday’s attack.
The strike hit the Al-Alam training camp, where forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognised government were based. The Houthis claimed responsibility and said the camp was operated by Saudi forces. Their account places the attack within the group’s confrontation with the Saudi-led coalition supporting the Yemeni government.
The provincial update moves the immediate response from the first casualty announcements into the continuing search for missing people and treatment of wounded recruits. The missing-person figure remains separate from the deaths recorded by the media office. AP’s earlier account had reported at least 53 killed as the first reports emerged.
The attack came during a wider escalation that has affected military positions, Saudi infrastructure and civilian communities in Yemen. Britain has announced defensive fighter missions for Saudi Arabia, while Egypt’s parliament is considering the support Cairo might provide. Those decisions concern protection on the Saudi side of a conflict whose fighting continues inside Yemen.
The humanitarian consequences extend beyond individual strikes. UNHCR has reported more than 250,000 people displaced between August 1 and October 17. The Shabwa deaths concern a separate incident, adding another demand for medical care as agencies seek access to families displaced elsewhere in the country.