Yemen hospital hit by Saudi-led air strikes

MSF facility was hit by several air strikes last night with patients and staff inside the facility, the group said

DUBAI: A Yemeni hospital run by medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) was hit by a Saudi-led air strike, the group said on Tuesday, the latest bombing of a civilian target in the seven-month air campaign in Yemen.

"MSF facility in Saada Yemen was hit by several air strikes last night with patients and staff inside the facility," the group said in a tweet on Tuesday.

Our facility in #Saada #Yemen was hit by several airstrikes last night with patients & staff inside the facility.

— MSF International (@MSF) October 27, 2015

Yemen's state news agency Saba, run the Iran-allied Houthi group that is the coalition's enemy, quoted the Heedan hospital director saying that several people were injured in the attack.



"The air raids resulted in the destruction of the entire hospital with all that was inside - devices and medical supplies - and the moderate wounding of several people," Doctor Ali Mughli said.

View from the roof of .@MSF hospital in #Saada, #Yemen that was hit by multiple airstrikes last night. pic.twitter.com/a7Hpf14VJM

— MSF UK Press Office (@MSF_Press) October 27, 2015

Saba said other air strikes hit a nearby girls school and damaged several civilian homes.

It was not immediately possible to confirm that report, and a coalition spokesman was not immediately available for comment.



Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries intervened in a civil war in Yemen in late March, but seven months of air attacks to restore the Saudi-based Yemeni government to power have yet to loosen the Houthis' grip over the capital Sanaa.

Human rights groups have expressed concern at the mounting deaths caused by the aerial bombing and ground fighting raging across the impoverished country.



More than 5,600 people have died in the conflict and shuttle diplomacy by a United Nations envoy has yet to win a political solution or slow the pace of combat.

It is the second time this month that an MSF facility has been hit a war zone. Its hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz was bombed by U.S. forces on Oct. 3 and about 30 people were killed.