An airstrike hit a hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders in northern Yemen on Monday, the global humanitarian group said, killing at least 11 people and wounding at least 19 others.
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In October, the Saudi coalition bombed an MSF-supported hospital in Yemen’s Haydan district, destroying the only emergency medical facility serving 200,000 people. The number of casualties was not yet known, although reports on social media suggest there could be as many as 20 people killed or wounded.
“We are assessing the situation to secure the safety of patients and staff”, Doctors Without Borders said.
Medical teams are treating the wounded after an airstrike hit the Abs hospital in Hajjah province, the group said.
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The charity says more than 4,600 patients have been treated at the Abs hospital since July 2015, reports the BBC.
The strikes come less than 48 hours after the charity accused the coalition of killing 10 children in air strikes on a Koranic school in Saada.
It is not the first time a hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders has been hit in Yemen.
The coalition denied targeting a school, instead saying it bombed a camp at which rebels train underage soldiers.
A spokesman for the Saudi coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognized President Abu Rabu Mansour Hadi said the bombing targeted a training facility run by Iran-backed Shi’ite Houthi rebels battling Hadi government.
Earlier this month, the coalition acknowledged that it had committed “unintended bombings” that caused civilian casualties during its almost 18-month air campaign, blaming United Nations agencies for not coordinating with it.
The charity said the Global Positioning System co-ordinates of the hospital were repeatedly shared with all parties involved in the conflict. “The circumstances of this attack must be thoroughly and independently investigated”. The UN says more than 6,400 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since March a year ago and more than 80 per cent of the population is in need of humanitarian aid.
The U.S. State Department is “deeply concerned” about the reported hospital strike and is conferring with Saudi officials about civilian casualties, said spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau.
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“Strikes on humanitarian facilities including hospitals are particularly concerning”, she said. While peace talks between a Yemeni Government delegation and a delegation of the General People’s Congress and Ansar Allah have since continued, serious violations have occurred in Marib, al Jawf, Taiz and in the border areas with Saudi Arabia.
