Local Editor
Continuing attacks on hospitals in Yemen, including an airstrike Monday on a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) medical facility that killed 11 and injured 19, reflect grave violations of international law, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said in a statement on Tuesday.
The statement issued by Ban’s spokesperson explained that the parties to the Yemeni conflict have damaged or destroyed more than 70 health centers to date, including three other MSF-supported facilities.
"Hospitals and medical personnel are explicitly protected under international humanitarian law and any attack directed against them, or against any civilian persons or infrastructure, is a serious violation of international humanitarian law," the statement said.
In the past two years, Yemen has been engulfed in a military conflict between the regime headed by fugitive President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and Houthi Ansarullah revolutionaries, the country’s main opposition movement, who have been supported by army units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Since March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition of mostly Sunni Arab allies mainly, backed by the United States and the United Kingdom, has launched airstrikes in Yemen to counter advances by the Houthis.
About 10,000 people have been killed and over 16,000 injured since Riyadh launched the airstrikes. The Saudi aggression has also taken a heavy toll on Yemen’s facilities and infrastructure.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
