NEW YORK/AMSTERDAM/SANAA, OCTOBER 2, 2018—For the second time in less than a week, the staff house of the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Ad Dhale governorate in southern Yemen was targeted with explosives. The most recent incident occurred on October 1. Fortunately, no one was injured in either incident.
Due to the severity of these attacks and the clear lack of safety for the team working there, MSF has been forced to withdraw its staff from Ad Dhale and suspend its medical programs until further notice, leaving thousands of Yemenis without humanitarian and medical assistance.
MSF is one of the few medical organizations delivering humanitarian assistance to the community in Ad Dhale and surrounding areas. MSF strongly condemns the attacks on its compound and, once again, calls on all warring parties, armed groups, and individuals to respect and ensure the protection of humanitarian and health workers in Yemen. Targeting the civilian population and humanitarian actors is prohibited under international humanitarian law at all times, and such attacks deprive the population of desperately needed humanitarian assistance and medical care.
MSF has been working in Ad Dhale since 2011 providing free medical care to the people of Ad Dhale, Qatabah, Al Azariq, and Damt districts. MSF remains committed to supporting the Yemeni people and currently operates 15 hospitals and health centers in Yemen and provides support to more than 16 hospitals and health centers across 12 governorates.