On Monday, a Saudi-led coalition airstrike partially destroyed the hospital run by the Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders, or MSF) aid group in Hajjah, Yemen. All were between the ages of 6 and 15, according to Doctors Without Borders, whose staff members treated the victims at its facility there.
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Dozens of air strikes have hit civilian facilities in Yemen since a coalition of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia began military operations in March 2015 to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power and roll back gains by the Iran-allied Houthis.
Key Saudi ally Washington raised concerns about the reports, with State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau saying: “Strikes on humanitarian facilities, including hospitals, are particularly concerning”.
A team from coalition “has seen the UN Secretary General’s call for an investigation” into MSF’s claim and is initiating a probe, said the group known as the Joint Incidents Assessment Team.
Monday’s bombing of Abs hospital drew global condemnation, prompting the coalition to announce an independent investigation into the attack.
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 coalition said it bombed a training camp where the rebels were using child soldiers and not a school.
Rebel sources said the coalition struck a first aid building adjacent to the facility.
A few months ago, two MSF-run hospitals in neighboring Saada province were hit by several airstrikes, as the Saudi-led military coalition admitted its mistakes.
The rebels formed the so-called Supreme Political Council late last month, in a move that put an end to peace talks in Kuwait.
A USA aerial attack on an MSF-run hospital in Afghanistan last October killed 42 people.
“Coalition officials repeatedly state that they honor worldwide humanitarian law, yet this attack shows a failure to control the use of force and to avoid attacks on hospitals full of patients.” it continued.
Following the fatal bombing of the Médecins Sans Frontières (doctors without borders) hospital in Yemen’s Hajjah province on Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said the worldwide community’s deplorable silence on the attacks against schools and hospitals has encouraged Saudi Arabia to keep committing such crimes.
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Following almost 16 months of conflict in Yemen, the cessation of hostilities was declared on 10 April.
