Airstrike hits aid group’s hospital in northern Yemen

The group, known by the French acronym MSF, said the strike hit near the Houthi rebel stronghold of Saada, where teams were still attending to the wounded. “The number of killed and injured is unknown, it said”.

A number of people are feared dead and wounded in an air strike on a Doctors Without Borders hospital in northern Yemen.

“MSF is now assessing the situation to ensure the safety of patients and staff”, read a statement from the aid agency, using the acronym for its French name, Medecins Sans Frontieres.

MSF said it had treated more than 4,600 patients since July 2015, when it began supporting the hospital.

The facility has been providing a range of services and medical aid for internally displaced people, along with emergency and maternal health care and surgery, the group said on its website. The coalition insists the target of the airstrikes was a militia training camp.

At least 11 people have died following a bombing by the Saudi-led coalition on a Yemeni hospital supported by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

This is not the first time a Doctors Without Borders facility has been targeted in an air strike.

A USA aerial attack on an MSF-run hospital in Afghanistan last October killed 42 people.

United Nations deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said the U.N.is trying to gather details on Monday’s attack. “The circumstances of this attack must be thoroughly and independently investigated”.

“We’re deeply concerned by a reported strike on a hospital in northern Yemen”, said State Department spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau.

The US regularly urges its Saudi ally to avoid civilian casualties in the devastating Yemeni conflict. “We believe that’s a step forward in transparency, and as we’ve previously underscored we also call on them to publicly release those reports”.

There was no immediate comment from the coalition, which has been battling the Houthi rebel movement since March 2015.