Saudi-led coalition wants urgent talks over MSF Yemen pullout

Airstrikes carried out by the Saudi-led Arab coalition caused the evacuation of MSF staff from six hospitals in the north of the country on Thursday after an airstrike partially destroyed an MSF-supported hospital in the Hajjah governorate killing at least 19 people on Tuesday.

MSF is one of handful of worldwide medical aid groups operating on the ground in Yemen where a 16-month civil war between a Gulf Arab coalition and an Iran-allied militia has killed over 6,500 people and brought one of world’s poorest countries close to starvation.

The Saudi-led coalition expressed deep regret over a decision by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) to evacuate staff from northern Yemen and said it was trying to set up “urgent meetings” with the medical aid group.

The charity said it considered hospitals in the Saada and Hajjah provinces to be “unsafe for both patients and staff”.

“This latest incident shows that the current rules of engagement, military protocols and procedures are inadequate in avoiding attacks on hospitals, and need revision and changes”, says Joan Tubau, General Director of MSF.

“MSF is neither satisfied nor reassured by the Saudi-led coalition’s statement that this attack was a mistake”, said MSF’s Yemen branch in a series of tweets.

The charity said it condemned the way “all involved actors”, including the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthi rebels, were conducting the war.

MSF said that aerial bombardment had continued despite its sharing of its hospitals’ Global Positioning System co-ordinates with the parties involved in the conflict, including the one in Hajjah governorate attacked on Monday.

MSF’s decision came after 19 people died in an air strike Monday on an MSF-supported hospital in the rebel-held northern province of Hajja.

Yemen’s minority Houthis, who are Shiite, rebelled previous year against the Sunni-led government of President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, backed by Saudi Arabia. MSF facilities have been repeatedly targeted since Saudi Arabia invaded Yemen past year.

The Saudi-led coalition stepped up its air strikes this month after UN-mediated peace talks between the rebels and Yemen’s internationally backed government were suspended.

Over 3,700 civilians have been killed and over 6,500 have been injured as a result of the conflict, according to the United Nations.

As a result of the August 15 aerial bombardment of Abs hospital in Hajjah governorate, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), has chose to “evacuate” its staff from six hospitals in Saada and Hajjah governorates in northern Yemen.