Aid agency says 1 of its Yemen facilities hit by airstrike

Sanaa: A small medical facility run by Doctors Without Borders in the northern Yemeni province of Saada was destroyed by two airstrikes but there were no casualties, the aid group's chief in Yemen said today.

The first strike came around 11 pm yesterday and hit a building housing the facility's administration offices, according to Hassan Boucenine, who spoke to The Associated Press by telephone from the southern port city of Aden.

No one was inside at the time, he said, adding that by the time a second strike targeted the main nearby building about 10 minutes later, its occupants, some 12 staff and patients, had been evacuated.

"It's completely destroyed," Boucenine said. The group operates in eight Yemeni governorates at a time when many foreign aid groups and even United Nations personnel have been evacuated.

A Saudi-led, US-backed coalition has been launching airstrikes against Yemen's Shiite rebels, also known as Houthis, and their allies since March.

Saada, the Houthis stronghold, has faced a particularly intense bombardment.

The United Nations said the facility was the 39th health center hit since the violence escalated in March, adding that critical shortages of fuel, medication, electricity and water could mean many more will close. Amnesty International said the strike may amount to a war crime and called for an independent investigation.

The strike was second attack this month on the international medical charity, which is also known by its French acronym MSF.