Airstrike on hospital in Saada, Yemen

On October 26, 2015 Doctors Without Borders reported that a Saudi Arabian-led coalition airstrike had completely destroyed the Médecins Sans Frontières hospital in Saada, in northwestern Yemen, including the operating room. The first strike hit an unused part of the hospital, so the facility was completely evacuated at once. There were no direct casualties. However, a spokesman for the coalition forces, Brig-Gen Ahmed al-Asiri, disclaimed responsibility for the attack.[1]

"With the hospital destroyed, at least 200,000 people now have no access to lifesaving medical care", MSF said. "This attack is another illustration of a complete disregard for civilians in Yemen, where bombings have become a daily routine," said Hassan Boucenine, MSF head of mission in Yemen. The GPS coordinates of the only hospital in the Haydan district were regularly shared with the Saudi-led coalition, and the roof of the facility was clearly identified with the MSF logo, he said.[2]

The UNICEF said the hospital in Saada was the 39th health center hit in Yemen since March, when the violence escalated. MSF reports that the Saudi-led coalition, supported by the British military, has been bombing hospitals across Yemen for the past 10 months. As many as 130 health facilities have been hit. "More children in Yemen may well die from a lack of medicines and healthcare than from bullets and bombs," its executive director Anthony Lake said in a statement. He added that critical shortages of fuel, medication, electricity and water could mean many more will close. Amnesty International said the strike may amount to a war crime and called for an independent investigation.[3][4]

Bombing of two more hospitals

When Shiara Hospital, supported by MSF in Razeh district, Saada Governorate, Northern Yemen, on January 10, 2016, was hit by a projectile and shrapnel, six people died and another 7 were injured, including three MSF staff, two of them in critical condition. Several buildings at the medical facility collapsed after the attack,[5][6][7] although the critical areas of the hospital were not destroyed. The rocket hit a corridor leading from the main gate to the hospital buildings, with a metal fence alongside. The wounded were hit by shrapnel from the missile, and also by shards of metal from the fence. The injuries were brutal. Vickie Hawkins, Executive Director of MSF-UK, said, "... there is a risk that "errors" in war situations will become normalised—just as "collateral damage" has been normalised in people’s minds since the first Gulf War. This would provide the perfect alibi for armies to shrug off accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity. It perpetuates impunity.[8]

On December 3, 2015 an airstrike by the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen hit a health center in Taiz, wounding nine people. Two hospital staff were among the wounded. "The bombing of civilians and hospitals is a violation of international humanitarian law," said Jerome Alin, head of MSF head of mission in Yemen.[9][10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Yemen conflict: MSF hospital destroyed by air strikes", BBC News (27 October 2015)
  2. ↑ "MSF hospital in Yemen bombed by airstrike", Xinhua (2015-10-28)
  3. ↑ Noah Browning, "Yemeni MSF hospital bombed, Saudi-led coalition denies responsibility", Reuters (October 27 2015)
  4. ↑ "Doctors Without Borders says Saudi-led airstrikes bomb Yemen hospital", Associated Press (October 28, 2015)
  5. ↑ Kareem Fahim, "Hospital Aided by Doctors Without Borders Is Bombed in Yemen", New York Times (January 10 2016)
  6. ↑ Mark Tran, "Four patients among dead after explosion at hospital in Yemen", The Guardian (January 10, 2016).
  7. ↑ Adam Withnall, "Attacks on hospitals mean people in Yemen are now too scared to go for treatment, MSF says", The Independent (January 19, 2016).
  8. ↑ "Yemen: Even in War, Hospitals Should Be "Places of Refuge And Healing", MSF (January 19 2016).
  9. ↑ Yemen: Nine Wounded in Saudi-Led Coalition Airstrike on MSF Clinic in Taiz (December 3 2015).
  10. ↑ "MSF-Supported Hospital Bombed in Northern Yemen", MSF (Update January 11 2016).
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