25 civilians killed, 20 others injured in Saudi attack on Yemeni hospital

At least 25 civilians have been killed and 20 others injured in a Saudi airstrike on a hospital north of Yemen as Saudi Arabia continues to carry out deadly airstrikes against the impoverished Arab country in defiance of a ceasefire.

Yemen’s al-Masirah TV said the casualties occurred on Monday as Saudi fighter jets carried out airstrikes on the health facility in the town of Abs in Hajjah province.

The report said ambulances rushed to the scene of the attack to help the injured.

Masirah said that medical staff, including doctors and nurses, as well as children were among those killed.

The Houthi Ansarullah movement, which rules the capital, Sana’a, condemned the attack, saying it was carried out in clear violation of a ceasefire agreement which has been holding across Yemen over the past four months.

Medical aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) confirmed on Twitter that “Abs hospital was targeted by air strikes today at 15:45 Yemen time (1245 GMT),” but said that the number of deaths and casualties still remain unknown.

MSF spokeswoman Malak Shaher told AFP the agency has had a team at the public hospital in the coastal town since 2015.

The Paris-based relief agency noted that medical teams were still attending the wounded.

The attack comes less than 48 hours after MSF said that Saudi airstrikes on a school in the northern province of Sa’ada killed 10 children.

Meanwhile, Yemeni forces launched a retaliatory attack against Saudi forces in Asir, located southwest of Saudi Arabia.

The Yemeni army also targeted the Saudi base of Me’zab in Jizan province.

In April, the United Nations brokered a series of talks between Ansarullah and the resigned government of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

The talks collapsed recently after the Houthis said they would not accept a UN-backed road map for peace which stipulates that Ansarullah and allies should withdraw from Sana’a and other places without any guarantee on setting up a transitional government.

Saudi fighter jets launched other attacks across Yemen on Monday, with reports saying that several areas were targeted in provinces of Sana’a and Sa’ada in north and Shabwah and Ta’izz in south.

Reports said some public and private property, including houses, farms, gas stations, communication networks and government offices, were destroyed in the attacks.

Saudi Arabia started its airstrikes against Yemen in late March 2015 in a bid to undermine the Houthis and restore power to Hadi.

The air campaign, carried out without any international mandate, has killed nearly 10,000 people, most of them civilians, according to pro-Houthi sources.