Red Cross Raises Alarm Over Persistent Attacks on Yemen’s Health Care Centers

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) expressed deep concern on Monday about recurring assaults on Yemen’s health care establishments, following the most recent attack in the southwestern province of Taiz. The ICRC reported an assault on Al-Barah Rural Hospital, a facility supported by the Yemeni Red Crescent Society and the German Red Cross. Although no casualties or damage to medical facilities resulted from the attack, it jeopardized the safety of medical staff and patients inside the hospital.

Government forces control Taiz but the Houthi militia has laid siege to the area. This attack marks yet another instance in the series of assaults on Yemen’s health care facilities during the ongoing civil war, further weakening its fragile health care system.

The ICRC, alarmed by this situation, appealed to all belligerents to respect and protect medical missions, as well as to ensure free access to health care. Yemen, which plunged into civil war in late 2014 following a Houthi militia coup, is teetering on the edge of starvation, and its health care system is in ruins.