Advertisement

Airstrike on Yemen hospital kills 7, including 4 children: NGO

Click to play video: 'No end in sight as Yemen war hits four-year mark'
No end in sight as Yemen war hits four-year mark
WATCH: No end in sight as Yemen war hits four-year mark – Mar 24, 2019

A hospital in a rural area of northwest Yemen was hit by an airstrike Tuesday killing seven people and wounding eight others, Save the Children said.

The international aid organization, which supports the hospital, said in a statement sent to the Associated Press that four of those killed were children and two adults are unaccounted for.

Save The Children said a missile struck a petrol station near the entrance to Kitaf rural hospital, about 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the city of Saada at 9:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday.

“The missile was said to have landed within 50 metres of the facility’s main building,” it said.

READ MORE: U.S. Senate defies Trump, votes to end support for Saudi war in Yemen

The organization said the hospital had been open for half an hour and many patients and staff were arriving on a busy morning.

Story continues below advertisement

Among the dead were a health worker and the worker’s two children and a security guard, it said.

Save the Children, which reported earlier this week that 37 Yemeni children a month had been killed or injured by foreign bombs in the last year, demanded an urgent investigation into the attack.

WATCH: Yemen-born conjoined twins won’t survive without treatment abroad

Click to play video: 'Yemen-born conjoined twins won’t survive without treatment abroad'
Yemen-born conjoined twins won’t survive without treatment abroad

Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the organization’s chief executive, said: “We are shocked and appalled by this outrageous attack.”

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.

Get breaking National news

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

“Innocent children and health workers have lost their lives in what appears to have been an indiscriminate attack on a hospital in a densely populated civilian area,” she said. “Attacks like these are a breach of international law.”

Thorning-Schmidt said the hospital is one of many Save the Children supports in Yemen, “but time after time, we see a complete disregard by all warring parties in Yemen for the basic rules of war.”

Story continues below advertisement

READ MORE: Yemen’s humanitarian crisis, explained in 2 charts

The conflict in Yemen began with the 2014 takeover of the capital, Sanaa, by Iranian-backed Houthi Shiite rebels, who toppled the government of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

A Saudi-led coalition allied with Hadi’s internationally recognized government has been fighting the Houthis since 2015.

Saudi-led airstrikes have hit schools, hospitals and wedding parties and killed thousands of Yemeni civilians. The Houthis have fired long-range missiles into Saudi Arabia and targeted vessels in the Red Sea.

WATCH: Questioned about Saudi arms contract, Trudeau says Canada ‘needs to respect its contracts’

Click to play video: 'Questioned about Saudi arms contract, Trudeau says Canada ‘needs to respect its contracts’'
Questioned about Saudi arms contract, Trudeau says Canada ‘needs to respect its contracts’

The fighting in the Arab world’s poorest country has killed thousands of civilians, left millions suffering from food and medical care shortages and pushed the country to the brink of famine.

Story continues below advertisement

UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock has said about 80 per cent of Yemen’s population — 24 million people — need humanitarian assistance, including nearly 10 million “just a step away from famine” and nearly 240,000 “facing catastrophic levels of hunger.”

READ MORE: Saudi Arabia denies recruiting Sudanese child soldiers to fight in Yemen

Thorning-Schmidt called for an immediate suspension of arms sales to the warring parties and diplomatic pressure to end the conflict.

“We must stop this war on children,” she said.

Sponsored content

AdChoices