Houthi rebels strike a government military camp in southern Yemen, killing at least 20 fighters

CAIRO (AP) — Iranian-backed Houthi rebels struck a military camp for government forces in southern Yemen on Monday, killing at least 20 soldiers, two Yemeni military officials said.

The rebels fired ballistic missiles on the al-Alam military camp in the southern province of Shabwa in an attack that also wounded at least two dozen troops, they said.

The military officials with the internationally recognized government of Yemen spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

The attack was one of the deadliest in the recent surge in fighting, which began months ago as tensions spiked in the wider Iran-U.S. conflict. The escalation between the Houthis and forces of the Saudi-backed government shattered a 2022 ceasefire deal that largely stopped fighting in Yemen’s civil war.

An airstrike on Sunday blamed on Saudi-led forces killed at least nine people, including five children and two women, in Yemen’s rebel-held northern province of Saada, the Houthi-run Health Ministry said. It was one of several that killed or wounded more the 30 people over the weekend, according to the rebels.

There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia.