Abs Hospital, the main medical facility operating in the western part of the Hajjah governorate, had a 14-bed emergency room, a maternity unit and a surgical unit, MSF said.
Advertisement
In a news release, the group said that the explosion immediately killed nine people, including an MSF Yemeni staff member.
“The airstrike on Abs Hospital was the fourth and the deadliest attack on an MSF-supported medical facility during this war, while there have been numerous attacks on other health facilities all over Yemen”, the Geneva-based group said in a statement. In reference to the attack in Yemen, MSF said: “All warring parties, including the Saudi led coalition (SLC), are regularly informed of the Global Positioning System coordinates of the medical sites where MSF works and we are in constant dialogue with them to ensure that they understand the severity of the humanitarian consequences of the conflict and the need to respect the provision of medical services”, says Raquel Ayora Director of Operations.
Dozens of air strikes have hit civilians 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 Houthis. The violence in Yemen is having a disproportionate burden on civilians.
The attack on the hospital came after Saudi planes attacked a school in Saada province Saturday, killing 10 children. Patients and MSF staff evacuated after the airstrike.
“Without action, these public gestures are meaningless for today’s victims. Whether intentional or a result of a negligence, this is unacceptable”.
In the southern Abyan province, where government forces launched a campaign this week to retake territory from al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, a family of five, including a 12-year old boy, was killed when the vehicle they were riding in was hit by a coalition airstrike, Yemeni officials and residents said.
Mr McPhun said the Saudi-led coalition would have been aware “without doubt” of what the MSF facility was.
The Houthis targeted a crowd on Tuesday at an industrial area of Najran, close to the Yemeni border, Ekhbariyah television channel said.
The United Nations has recorded well over 3,200 civilian deaths in the conflict, 60 percent of which it has attributed to the Saudi-led coalition airstrikes.
Amnesty International called the hospital attack a “deplorable act” and potentially a war crime.
Another air attack hit what MSF described as a school in neighbouring Saada province on Saturday, killing 10 children.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon condemned the strike, saying he was “deeply disturbed” by the intensification of air raids in Yemen.
Advertisement
Between April and August of 2016, the statement said, 272 civilians have been killed there and 543 were injured.
