Yemen: 5 killed, 15 injured, including health workers, in Houthi airstrike on health center in Lahj

The Yemeni Ministry of Health announced that five people were killed and 15 others injured, including healthcare workers, after Houthi militia targeted a health center in Lahj Governorate in southern Yemen. In a statement on Monday, the ministry said the Al-Suqya Health Center in the Al-Mudharibah district came under attack by Houthi militia, resulting in 20 casualties, including the dead and wounded, “in an initial tally.” It stressed that targeting health facilities and their staff constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law and the principle of keeping medical facilities neutral from armed conflicts, endangering the lives of patients, the injured, and healthcare workers. It called on the international community, the United Nations, and international and humanitarian organizations, particularly the World Health Organization and the International Committee of the Red Cross, to condemn the attack, investigate it, hold those responsible accountable, and work to protect health facilities and ensure that such attacks do not recur. It emphasized the necessity of protecting health institutions and ensuring the continuity of their medical and humanitarian services, reaffirming its commitment to continuing its duty to provide care to citizens under all circumstances. For his part, Major General Majid Al-Nazili, spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, confirmed that the Houthi militia’s targeting of the Al-Suqya medical center was a deliberate hostile and terrorist act, part of its systematic pattern of targeting civilians and civilian objects. Al-Nazili affirmed that the Armed Forces would take strict and deterrent operational measures to address sources of threat and neutralize the ballistic capabilities of the terrorist militia, in accordance with international humanitarian law and its customary rules, describing the attack on the center as a war crime that is not subject to a statute of limitations. (End) S.N.S