Aug 15 2016

MSF: Another Hospital in Yemen Bombed By Saudi Arabia

Another hospital run by Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) has been bomb today in Yemen by a Saudi Arabian coalition armed with US weapons. Early reports by the international organization state that at least seven people have been reported killed and 13 injured.

A Reuters witness at the scene of the attack in the Abs district said medics could not immediately evacuate the wounded because war planes continued to fly over the area and first responders feared more bombings.

The facility is run by aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres, which confirmed on its official Twitter account that an air strike had occurred there but said the number of deaths and injuries remained unclear.

A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reported attack.

On Saturday, Saudi led airstrikes hit a school in northern Yemen, killing 10 children and wounding 28.

These attacks are in violation of International Law and the Geneva Accords and the United States is complicit. Just this month, the Obama administration approved a $1.15 billion arms deal with the Saudis. The sale was concluded after a Saudi airstrike on a food factory in the Yemen capital, Sana’a that killed 14 workers.

I don’t often agree with Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) but, along with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), has proposed blocking the deal citing Saudi Arabia’s humanitarian violations and the possibility that it would start a region arms race.

“I will work with a bipartisan coalition to explore forcing a vote on blocking this sale,” said Paul, according to a statement provided to Foreign Policy magazine. “Saudi Arabia is an unreliable ally with a poor human rights record. We should not rush to sell them advanced arms and promote an arms race in the Middle East.”

Paul’s statement comes amid a deteriorating situation in Yemen, Saudi Arabia’s neighbor to the south, where Riyadh has been involved in a US-supported intervention for more than a year.

Peace talks being brokered by the United Nations and held in Kuwait fell apart last week and fighting resumed on Tuesday, as airstrikes from the Saudi-led coalition struck a food facility, killing more than a dozen people.

Though a nominal truce was agreed to by the warring Yemeni factions in April, the fighting never significantly abated, with 272 civilian deaths reported from April until the collapse of talks, according to the spokesperson for the UN high commissioner for human rights.

These are deplorable acts that should be strongly condemned by the US government not rewarded with more weapons.