Local Editor

Doctors Without Borders demanded answers on Thursday from the Saudi-led coalition over the recent bombing of one of the medical charity’s hospitals in northern Yemen, rejecting Saudi Arabia’s denial of responsibility.

The MSF hospital was hit late Monday, drawing condemnation from United Nations [UN] chief Ban Ki-moon who also fingered the coalition forces as responsible.

"The hospital was hit by coalition air strikes, for us that is without a shadow of a doubt", said Isabelle Defourny, head of operations for the medical charity, at a press conference in Paris.

"What we demand is that the coalition recognizes that this bombing took place, explains what happened, and commits to helping with the deployment of humanitarian assistance", she said.

"The attack took place Monday 26th between 2230 and 2330," said Laurent Sury, head of MSF’s emergency response team, adding that "five or six strikes" hit the hospital completely destroying it.

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday denied that the coalition, which launched an air aggression in Yemen in late March, was behind the attack. The Saudi mission to the UN said in a statement that "the Arab coalition aircrafts did not attack the hospital" and were not in Yemen’s Saada at the time.

"There have been two contradictory statements by the Saudi ambassador to the UN", said Mego Terzian, president of MSF France.

"First he announced that the strike was probably a mistake and that MSF had given incorrect GPS coordinates. And on October 29, the same ambassador denied any strikes in Saada division", he said.

"At the moment we favor direct negotiations with those responsible, therefore the coalition, to clarify what happened", Terzian further said.

"If the negotiations do not produce convincing results, then we will probably take radical steps and withdraw from some areas, or even in the country as a whole", he warned.

Since March 26, a Saudi-led coalition backed by the United States has been carrying out a military aggression on Yemen by launching airstrikes against the country. The airstrikes have not been authorized by the UN.