Wounded Yemenis receive treatment at a hospital following a reported Saudi-led airstrike in Saada in northern Yemen, on January 21, 2022. (Photo by AFP)
Doctors Without Borders says Saudi Arabia and its allies have "no way to deny" carrying out a deadly airstrike on a prison that killed more than 80 people and injured hundreds others in Yemens northern province of Saada.
A statement by the charity organization, known by its French acronym as the MSF, comes after the Saudi-led coalition denied any knowledge of the attack in question.
The MSF said on Saturday that its staff had confirmed the prison in Saada was destroyed, and that a nearby hospital had run out of beds to treat the wounded. "There is no way to deny that this is an airstrike, everyone in Saada City heard it."
The attack overnight on January 21 created horrific scenes, with bombed-out buildings littered with bodies and hospitals overwhelmed. "The hospital is facing a very difficult situation... with casualties lying on the floor." Rescuers continue to claw through the rubble searching for survivors, the MSF said. "I live one kilometer (half a mile) from the prison and my house was shaking from the explosion," a staff member was quoted as saying.
Coalition warplanes bombarded a detention center in Saada province, killing at least 82 people, including migrants, women, and children, with reports saying that the death toll is expected to rise since many of the wounded were seriously hurt.
Reacting to the deadly aerial raids, Ahmed Mahat, MSF head of mission in Yemen also said Saudis and their allies have long history of targeting civilian targets across Yemen.
"This is the latest in a long line of unjustifiable air strikes carried out by the Saudi-led coalition on places like schools, hospitals, markets, wedding parties and prisons," Mahat, said "Since the beginning of the war we have frequently witnessed the terrible effects of indiscriminate coalition bombing on Yemen, including when our own hospitals have been attacked."
Reacting to the deadly aerial raids, Ahmed Mahat, the MSFs head of mission in Yemen, said Saudis and their allies have a long history of targeting civilian targets across Yemen. "This is the latest in a long line of unjustifiable air strikes carried out by the Saudi-led coalition on places like schools, hospitals, markets, wedding parties and prisons," Mahat said. "Since the beginning of the war we have frequently witnessed the terrible effects of indiscriminate coalition bombing on Yemen, including when our own hospitals have been attacked."
The bombardment followed a Yemeni drone attack on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on January 17, which itself came in retaliation for Abu Dhabis recently intensified role in the protracted war on Yemen.
Despite the coalitions attacks on Yemen, the UN Security Council condemned the Yemeni drone strike on Friday, saying in a statement, "The members of the Security Council underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice."
The Saudi war has also taken a heavy toll on Yemens infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories since March 2015, when Riyadh and a number of its regional allies - including the UAE - launched the war to eliminate Yemens Ansarullah movement and reinstall former Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh. The campaign, accompanied by a tight siege, has failed to reach its goals, but it has killed hundreds of thousands of Yemeni people. The UN refers to the situation in Yemen as the worlds worst humanitarian crisis.
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/26362
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