The airstrikes Monday comes just two day after 10 children were killed in Saudi-led airstrike on a school in Yemen’s stronghold of the Houthi group, according to MSF who said 28 children were also injured in the attack in the Haydan of Saada province. The Yemeni hospital is now being supported by the humanitarian group Doctor Without Borders.
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The worldwide aid group Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, said the strike was the fourth time in less than a year that one of its facilities has been attacked.
The charity said the Global Positioning System co-ordinates of the hospital were repeatedly shared with all parties involved in the conflict. “What we need to see is proof of intent and a commitment that there will be no more airstrikes on medical facilities, staff, and patients”. All the remaining patients and staff have been evacuated.
There was no immediate comment from the coalition, which has been battling the Houthi rebel movement since March 2015. Saudi Arabia, backed by the USA, has been bombing Yemen since March 2015, in a bid to reinstate the president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and counter advances by Houthi rebels.
“Once again, today we witness the tragic consequences of the bombing of a hospital”, she said.
“Hospitals and medical personnel are explicitly protected under global humanitarian law and any attack directed against them, or against any civilian persons or infrastructure, is a serious violation of worldwide humanitarian law”, Ban said in a statement.
MSF said that the strike that killed one staff member took place around 15.45 local time. The medical charity, also known by its French acronym MSF, said 24 wounded people were still receiving treatment. The hospital had a 14-bed emergency room, a maternity unit, and a surgery unit.
Workers collect human remains at the yard of a hospital operated by Medecins Sans Frontieres after it was hit by a Saudi airstrike in Yemen’s Hajjah province on August 16, 2016. Coalition spokesman General Ahmed al-Asseri said the bombing had targeted a centre used by the Houthi militias as a training camp. 12 patients were in the pediatric ward.
But “given the intensity of the current offensive and our loss of confidence in the SLC’s (Saudi-led coalition’s) ability to prevent such fatal attacks, MSF considers the hospitals in Saada and Hajjah governorates unsafe for both patients and staff”, it added.
Doctors Without Borders, which operates in conflict zones around the world, has had a number of its facilities attacked over the past year.
Image credit: Reuters.”Today’s airstrike appears to be the latest in a string of unlawful attacks targeting hospitals highlighting an alarming pattern of disregard for civilian life. The circumstances of this attack must be thoroughly and independently investigated”, said Magdalena Mughrabi, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa Amnesty’s worldwide program.
The JIAT will “obtain more information from MSF and will publicly announce the findings” of the probe, it said.
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Oxfam, Save the Children, Care, Handicap International, Mercy Corps and Intersos condemned the attack and jointly called for an independent investigation into it.
