RIYADH: The Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen did not target Baqem Rural Hospital in Yemen’s Saada governorate in October 2016 as claimed by Physicians for Human Rights, the Joint Incidents Assessment Team has concluded.
The coalition’s investigative body said it vetted the incident and reviewed all documents including air tasking orders, daily mission schedules, mission execution procedures, after-mission reports, satellite images, open sources, the website of the National Information Center in Yemen, which contains data on health centers and hospitals in Yemen, the coalition no-strike list, coalition forces rules of engagement, and the provisions and principles of international humanitarian law.
JIAT said that after assessing the evidence, it found that Baqem Rural Hospital is located in the northeastern part of Baqem city in Yemen’s Saada Governorate, and is on the coalition’s no-strike list.
JIAT specialists studied the satellite images of the hospital before and after the claimed date of the incident (Oct. 1, 2016) and found the following:
1. Baqem Rural Hospital consists of a main building and its annexes, surrounded by a fence.
2. JIAT is unable to determine the cause of traces of damage on one of the annex buildings.
By studying the air missions carried out by coalition forces on Oct. 1, 2016, JIAT found that coalition forces did not carry out any air missions on Baqem city.
By studying the daily mission schedule carried out by coalition forces one day prior and one day after the claimed date of the incident, JIAT found the following:
1. On Sept. 30, 2016, the day prior to the claimed incident date, JIAT found that coalition forces did not carry out any air missions on Baqem city.
2.On Oct. 2, 2016, the day after the claimed incident date, JIAT found that coalition forces did not carry out any air missions on Baqem city.
JIAT added that it had previously announced the results of an investigation into an earlier alleged targeting, in 2015, of Baqem Rural Hospital. It concluded that coalition forces did not target the hospital as claimed.
