Monday’s Saudi-led coalition strike on Abs hospital in the rebel-held province of Hajja was the fourth and deadliest attack yet on an MSF facility in war-torn Yemen, according to the charity.
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While both warring parties are to blame for the death toll, the Saudi-led coalition has been repeatedly accused of conducting “indiscriminate bombings”.
“When jets target training camps, they can not distinguish between ages”, coalition spokesperson General Ahmed Assiri told AFP Sunday.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the airstrike against the hospital in a statement issued by his office on Wednesday, saying civilians including children are paying the heaviest price in the ongoing conflict in Yemen as schools and hospitals continue to be targeted.
Government forces, backed by air power from a Saudi-led coalition, launched the offensive to retake Abyan on Sunday, after they failed to recapture the vast province earlier this year.
The Iraqi speaker, for his part, said Iraq seeks a counter-terrorism strategy in cooperation with all major countries, particularly with Iran that has precious experience in the fight on terrorism.
Saudi’s state run media reported that the coalition has set up an independent team to investigate reports of civilian casualties.
Saudi Arabian leaders were livid that Riyadh had been placed on a list alongside global terrorist groups, including the Islamic State and al Qaeda. “Doctors Without Borders has denied that was the case in any of its bombed health facilities”, the New York Times reports.
Saudi officials declined to directly comment on the report, saying the moving of USA personnel had no impact on the war, and that they continue to enjoy extensive American support for their bombing campaign against northern Yemen.
The Pentagon statement spells out the limits of U.S. involvement in the bombing campaign, which began in March 2015. “I … had to consider the very real prospect that millions of other children would suffer grievously if, as was suggested to me, countries would defund many United Nations programs”, he said.
“The relationship between the kingdom and the United States is a strategic one”.
The United States stepped up military assistance to the Saudi-led coalition in April, using tankers to refuel coalition jets bombing targets in Houthi rebels’ territory to allow them to complete more missions, sharing intelligence, expediting deliveries of munitions, and establishing the planning cell that is now withdrawn.
The MSF is evacuating its obstetricians, pediatricians, surgeons and emergency room specialists from six Saada and Hajjah hospitals in northern Yemen, the global medical aid group tweeted on Thursday.
The UN chief has already taken flak for dropping Saudi Arabia from a list of children’s rights violators after coming under “undue pressure”.
In recent months, however, the United Nations, global humanitarian organizations and even some USA lawmakers have criticized the coalition air strikes.
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US aerial tankers continue to refuel Saudi aircraft, he added. They also sharply reduced the number of staff elsewhere engaged in assisting that planning, USA officials told Reuters.
