Cairo: An internal investigation committee said on Tuesday that the Arab military coalition accidentally bombed a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Yemen, which killed 19 people and forced the international group to pull out from northern Yemen.
Mansour Al Mansour, the committee spokesman, said that an inquiry into the August bombing of the MSF hospital in the northern city of Abs showed that the coalition had received intelligence that rebel leaders were gathering north of the hospital. After bombing the site of the meeting, a warplane tracked a car that headed southward near the hospital. He said that the hospital building had no clear markings.
Al Mansour in his report suggested the coalition should apologise, offer assistance to those impacted by the bombing, and hold those responsible accountable.
The committee, which is named the Joint Incidents Assessment Team or JIAT, was formed by the Saudi-led coalition and this is its third report since the coalition started its campaign in Yemen in March 2015, under the banner of fighting Al Houthi rebels, which the coalition accuses of acting as an Iranian proxy.
In its report, the committee published results of four other incidents where warplanes bombed two schools, one market and one factory leaving dozens of civilians dead. In all, the committee either denied that the coalition held responsibility or that the targets were used for military purposes and therefore bombing them was justified.
