Airstrikes hit Médecins sans Frontières hospital in Yemen
A Saudi-led coalition airstrike has hit a Médecins sans Frontières hospital in Yemen, the latest bombing of a civilian target in the seven-month air campaign in the country.
“Our hospital in the Heedan district of Saada governorate was hit
several times. Fortunately, the first hit damaged the operations theatre
while it was empty and the staff were busy with people in the emergency
room. They just had time to run off as another missile hit the
maternity ward,” MSF country director Hassan Boucenine told Reuters.
“It could be a mistake, but the fact of the matter is it’s a war
crime. There’s no reason to target a hospital. We provided [the
coalition] with all of our GPS coordinates about two weeks ago,” he
said. At least two staff members were hurt by flying debris, according
to Boucenine.
About 5,600 people have been killed in Yemen’s civil war, according to the World Health Organisation. The Saudi-led coalition is fighting the Houthis
to drive them from the capital, Sana’a, and other areas they captured
last year, and to restore the internationally recognised president, Abd
Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
Yemen was the poorest country in the Arab world long before the removal of its veteran president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, after popular protests in 2011. Now it is experiencing what Oxfam calls the world’s largest “forgotten emergency”.
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