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28 Oct, 2015 12:40

MSF says Saudi-led coalition had GPS coordinates of Yemeni hospital, but still hit it

MSF says Saudi-led coalition had GPS coordinates of Yemeni hospital, but still hit it

International medical organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) says a Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit a Yemeni hospital with patients and staff inside even though the coalition knew the GPS coordinates of the facility in Saada.

"We are going to ask for explanations, because the GPS coordinates of the district's hospital and other infrastructure had been transmitted to the coalition to make sure there was no problem," Laurent Sury, MSF’s emergency coordinator in Paris told RIA Novosti.

Sury said that Monday night MSF's hospital was targeted by airstrikes six times, adding that only the coalition is capable of conducting airstrikes. The air raids resulted in the destruction of the entire hospital with all that was inside, including medical supplies. Several people were moderately injured. Two bombs did not explode and have remained in the territory of the facility.

The Saudi-led coalition launched its anti-Houthi campaign in March 2015 in response to the ‘Ansar Allah’ Houthi movement capturing large territories of Yemen, including Sanaa, the capital, and the second-largest city, the port of Aden. The Saudi-led large-scale campaign has been recently under fire over civilian deaths. More than 2,300 civilians have been killed in the campaign in the last six months, according to the UN. According to the UN children’s agency UNICEF, the operation has caused the deaths of 505 children.

READ MORE: 135 civilians killed in alleged coalition airstrike on Yemen wedding

One of the worst attacks occurred in al-Wahijah village in Taiz province, when at least 135 people, mostly women and children, were killed in an airstrike on a wedding party last month. The coalition denied responsibility for the tragedy.

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