JIAT: ‘Unintentional mistake’ led to airstrike on Yemeni hospital

RIYADH: A mistake led to an air strike on Abs Hospital in Yemen’s Hajah Province on Aug. 15, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition’s Joint Incidents Assessment Team (JIAT) said.
Earlier, aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) claimed Saudi-led coalition air strikes hit a hospital in Yemen killing 7 people and wounding 13.
Confirmed intelligence was provided that Houthi rebel leaders were gathering in Abs city, and coalition forces closely monitored the site, JIAT spokesman Mansoor Ahmed Mansour said at a press conference held at the Eastern Sector’s King Saud Air Base on Tuesday.
“A vehicle was observed leaving the site and was therefore targeted and directly hit by an airstrike,” Mansour continued, “The target was near an unidentified building that eventually turned out to be a hospital.”
“After reviewing the investigation results, it turned out that targeting the vehicle (a legitimate military target) caused the unintentional damage of the nearby hospital,” Mansour added.
He pointed out that JIAT expresses its regret at this unintentional incident and recommended that proper compensation be offered to the victims’ families. He also said that those responsible for the incident would be held accountable.
Mansour also commented on the allegation of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Sweden that the coalition targeted a food factory owned by Abdullah Ahmad Al-Aqel (honorary Swedish consul) in Sanaa on Aug. 9, killing 16 workers. He pointed out that the probe carried out by JIAT indicated that coalition forces did not target the aforementioned factory.
He elaborated that on that day (Aug. 9) coalition forces hit two targets: The first was telecommunications antennae used for military purposes in the (Mount Ayban) about 7km away from the factory, and the second was a cave located south of Sanaa, used for military purposes, about 10km away from the factory.
As for MSF’s allegation of the targeting of Al-Fadhil School by coalition airstrikes in Saada Province on Aug. 13, killing 10 children and injuring at least 9 people, Mansour said that the school was never targeted. He pointed out that coalition forces on that day (Aug. 13) targeted warehouses of weapons and ammunition belonging to Houthi militia — about 10km away from the school.