At least 11 dead after Saudi-led coalition bombs Yemen hospital (Updated)

Tuesday, 16 August 2016

At least 11 dead after Saudi-led coalition bombs Yemen hospital (Updated)

At least 11 dead after Saudi-led coalition bombs Yemen hospital

At least 11 people have been killed and 19 injured in an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition on a Yemeni hospital supported by Médecins Sans Frontières as the conflict escalates following the collapse of peace talks.

The strike on Monday, in which a member of MSF staff died, was the latest in an increasing number of attacks targeting places commonly used by civilians, including hospitals where MSF doctors and nurses work. It followed similar airstrikes on a food factory and a school in the course of the last week.

MSF said the bombardment of the hospital, which is in the Abs district of Hajjah governorate, in north-west Yemen, took place at around 15.45 local time. “Abs hospital has been supported by MSF since July 2015 and since then 4,611 patients have been treated at the facility,” a statement said.

Teresa Sancristóval, MSF desk manager for the Emergency Unit in Yemen, said: “This is the fourth attack against an MSF facility in less than 12 months. Once again, today we witness the tragic consequences of the bombing of a hospital. Once again, a fully functional hospital full of patients and MSF national and international staff members, was bombed in a war that has shown no respect for medical facilities or patients. An aerial bomb hit the hospital compound, causing 11 people to lose their lives.”

Since March 2015 Saudi Arabia, backed by its Sunni Arab allies, the US and Britain, has launched airstrikes in neighbouring Yemen to reinstate the president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and counter advances by Houthi rebels.

Another attack on Saturday hit a school in the Haydan district in northern Saada governorate, killing 10 students who were all under 15, according to MSF. An attack on the same day in Razih district, also in Saada governorate, hit the house of the school principle, Ali Okri, killing his wife, four children and relatives

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