The number of victims from Monday’s airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition on a hospital in north-western Yemen has increased to 14, the Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders, or MSF) aid group said Tuesday.
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“Immediately, and as soon as the announcement from Doctors without Borders and from his excellency the United Nations secretary-general reached us, the team began its investigation as part of its responsibility and without waiting for instructions from anyone”, Mansour Ahmed al-Mansour told Reuters.
The strikes come less than 48 hours after MSF accused the coalition of killing 10 children in airstrikes on a school in Saada, another rebel-held province in Yemen’s north.
The coalition began the bombing campaign in March past year after Shiite Huthi rebels seized large parts of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa. This news story is related to Print/143001-Coalition-probes-deadly-strike-on-Yemen-hospital/ – breaking news, latest news, pakistan ne.
Twenty four people were also injured in the airstrike and were referred to different health facilities in the area, it added.
The US, a key Saudi ally, raised concerns about the reports, with State Department spokesman Elizabeth Trudeau saying: “Strikes on humanitarian facilities, including hospitals, are particularly concerning”.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was “deeply disturbed” by the intensification of air raids in Yemen.
“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.
“Medical teams still attending wounded” after the airstrikes, MSF tweeted.
“This investigation will be independent and will follow worldwide standards”.
As criticism of the civilian death toll from its bombing campaign has mounted, the coalition has set up a standing investigation team.
Residents in Abs also claimed that coalition jets, which have been striking rebel military targets in the town for days, hit the hospital and caused casualties.
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That forced the closure of Sanaa airport, but its director said three flights – carrying World Food Programme (WFP) and Red Cross employees as well as humanitarian aid – landed on Tuesday.
