Houthis inflict major losses on Yemeni forces

• At least 53 killed, 200 wounded in attack on govt forces’ training camp in Shabwa • Egypt delays vote on military support for Saudi Arabia • US embassies urge ‘heightened vigilance’ across region; Riyadh residents get ‘hostile aerial threat’ warning; govt staff told to work from home • ‘Davos in the Desert’ postponed to next year RIYADH: 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…