Local Editor
The European Union [EU] has condemned a missile strike on a Médecins Sans Frontières [MSF] hospital in Razeh district of Sa’ada province.
In a joint statement, EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini and the Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides said: "The attack on an MSF health centre in Razeh district, northern Yemen, which resulted in several casualties and many wounded is unacceptable. Our thoughts and condolences are with the families and colleagues of those affected at this time.
"This tragic incident is the latest of a series of attacks on medical facilities and medical personnel recorded in Yemen since the start of the conflict. Such attacks that target humanitarian operations and civilians are clearly prohibited under International Humanitarian Law (IHL)."
According to MSF, four people died, ten were wounded, and several buildings of the medical facility collapsed in the hit on the hospital in Northern Yemen. A number of people could remain trapped in rubble at the site. Three of the injured are MSF staff members; two of whom are in a ‘critical condition’. MSF says that it cannot confirm the origin of the attack, but that planes were seen flying over the facility at the time.
The organization has said that there is no way that the parties with the capacity to carry out an airstrike or launch a rocket attack would not have known that the hospital was a MSF-supported facility. Raquel Ayora, MSF director of operations said: "All warring parties, including the Saudi-led coalition, are regularly informed of the GPS co-ordinates 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."
It is the third time an MSF health facility in Yemen has been hit in the last three months. MSF says that in the previous two incidents, the Saudi-led coalition was responsible.
The statement called on the warring parties to respect for the IHL and to refrain from deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure.
It emphasized that the solution to this conflict should be political.
"The European Union urges all parties to participate without preconditions and with sincere intentions in another round of negotiations facilitated by the United Nations in January 2016," the statement said.
