GENEVA, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Doctors Without Borders (MSF) urged states on Tuesday to protect access to medical care in conflicts after releasing findings of attacks on two medical facilities run or supported by the charity in war-torn Yemen.
"Whilst there are significant differences in the circumstances surrounding each incident, in both cases, the bombings hit fully functioning health facilities and the protected nature of the medical mission was not respected," MSF said in a statement ahead of a United Nations Security Council session on the protection of medical missions.
"The details of the incidents documented in these two reports are unambiguous indicators of how war is being waged in Yemen, where there is an utter disregard for civilian life by all warring parties," it added.
The attacks, which were acknowledged by the Saudi Led Coalition (SLC), hit a hospital in Abs, Hajjah governorate on Aug. 15, 2016 and a MSF clinic in Taiz city on Dec. 2, 2015.
The GPS coordinates of both facilities had been shared with the SLC. MSF logos had also been clearly displayed.
The airstrikes resulted in the death of 20 people, mostly patients, while a further 32 were wounded.
The bombings also had long-term repercussions as civilians living in precarious conditions were left without access to healthcare and medical facilities.
The attack on Abs hospital also led to MSF having to withdraw from six hospitals in northern Yemen in light of the security situation.
"MSF urges the UN Security Council members to take bold and practical steps in tomorrow's meeting to ensure that 2016 is the last year that hospitals are massively bombed while the world watches in silence."
"MSF reiterates its call for all warring parties to uphold the principles of humanitarian law which protect civilians as well as medical facilities, patients and staff, and thus reduce the massive human cost that has characterised this conflict," it added.
The reports come almost one year after the U.S. army bombed a MSF hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz, an incident which resulted in 42 fatalities.
