“Britain’s humanitarian and foreign policy are pursuing different ends”

Half of the warplanes used in the Saudi airstrikes in Yemen are British-made —Reports

“Britain’s humanitarian and foreign policy are pursuing different ends. The Yemenis are being pulverized by the Saudis while we try to get aid in through ports which are being blockaded and while British ordnance is being dropped there,”  Andrew Mitchell, the former UK Conservative (Tory) Party whip and ex-Secretary of State for International Development, told The Telegraph.

UK Government’s support for Saudi-led military offensive in Yemen has destroyed more than a decade’s worth of British aid spending in the country, senior politicians have warned.

More than 5,800 people have been killed in Yemen, about half of them civilians, at least 27,000 others wounded since March this year, according to the U.N.

• Britain ‘fueling war in Yemen’ through arms sales, says Oxfam

Saudi Airstrikes on Schools and Hospitals

“An air strike by the Saudi-led coalition hit a relief warehouse run by Oxfam, while the Save the Children has had two of its bases destroyed. Both charities’ aid efforts in Yemen are funded in part by DFID. Clinics operated by the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres have also been destroyed,” said a report.

In a recent report, Amnesty International has cited five air strikes on schools in Yemen between August and October this year, which killed five civilians and wounded at least 14 others, including four children.

Saudi-led air strikes in Hajjah and Qabatiya provinces killed at least 19 civilians in bombings of homes and a market on Sunday, villagers said.

The collapse of Yemen’s health system

The breakdown of Yemen’s health system has left more than 14 million people without the basics like antibiotics and vaccines, and risk dying from preventable diseases like diarrhea, pneumonia and malaria, said the UN. Additionally,

• 21.2 million, or 82% of the population are in need of humanitarian assistance.
• 14.4 million are food insecure (including 7.6 million severely food insecure).
• 3 million people now require treatment or preventive services for malnutrition.
• 2 million are currently acutely malnourished, including 1.3 million children – 320,000 of whom are suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

Half of the warplanes used in the Saudi airstrikes are British-made Tornadoes and Eurofighters, say reports.

“There is a clear risk that the [UK] Government is complicit in indiscriminate attacks in civilian areas,” said Tim Cross, a retired British Major General.

Related Links

• Saudi state terrorism leaves 21.2 million Yemenis—82% of population—in need of humanitarian assistance

Kunduz Update: “42 people killed in the US airstrikes on Kunduz hospital”

The following statement was released by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Kunduz: Updated death toll – 42 people killed in the US airstrikes on Kunduz hospital

After two months of in-depth investigations following the US airstrikes that destroyed the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) trauma centre in Kunduz, Afghanistan, on 3 October, MSF today announces with great sadness that the death toll has been confirmed to be at least 42 people.

The revised figures include the 14 MSF staff members confirmed to have been killed, as well as 24 patients and four caretakers (relatives that provided additional nursing care for the patients in the hospital). Previously MSF had reported an approximate death toll of at least 30 people, but the organisation confirms today the death toll has risen to 42, after methodical review of MSF records and family claims, as well as patient, staff and family testimonies.

Although determining the death toll has been extremely difficult in the chaos of the facility’s wreckage following the attack, extensive efforts have been undertaken to identify those who have died. Part of the medical archives, patient files, and admission sheets were destroyed, as they were located in the main hospital building that burned down in the attack. As well, additional human remains had been found in the hospital rubble over the course of the past two months. Detailed investigations have been carried out, including interviews with MSF staff, patients and family members, as well as cross-checking with other hospitals in Afghanistan where MSF patients were referred post-attack, bringing the death toll to at least 42 people.

For more information on the Kunduz attack: kunduz.msf.org

Related Links

• NATO ‘Horrific Bombing’ of Afghan Clinic Kills Many Medical Staff  October 3, 2015

NATO ‘Horrific Bombing’ of Afghan Clinic Kills Many Medical Staff

MSF strongly condemns aerial bombardment of Kunduz clinic

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has condemned in the strongest possible terms deadly airstrikes on its clinic in Kunduz, Afghanistan.

At least nine MSF staff were killed in the attack and many were unaccounted for, as of posting.

The strikes continued for more than 30 minutes after the US and Afghan authorities were informed of its location, said the Medical charity.

NATO has admitted that US forces were conducting aerial bombardment at the time, and that the clinic may have been hit, said reports.

“US forces conducted an air strike in Kunduz city at 02:15… against individuals threatening the forces,” said a spokesman for US forces in Afghanistan.

“The strike may have resulted in collateral damage to a nearby medical facility,” he said

Dozens of people were seriously injured, including 19 MSF staff, said the NGO.

Statement by MSF

MSF had informed all fighting parties of hospital GPS coordinates

MSF condemns in the strongest possible terms the horrific bombing of its hospital in Kunduz full of staff and patients. MSF wishes to clarify that all parties to the conflict, including in Kabul and Washington, were clearly informed of the precise location (GPS Coordinates) of the MSF facilities – hospital, guest-house, office and an outreach stabilization unit in Chardara (to the north-west of Kunduz). As MSF does in all conflict contexts, these precise locations were communicated to all parties on multiple occasions over the past months, including most recently on 29 September.

The bombing continued for more than 30 minutes after American and Afghan military officials in Kabul and Washington were first informed. MSF urgently seeks clarity on exactly what took place and how this terrible event could have happened.

Freetown Becomes a Ghost Town

Ebola Outbreak: Lockdown Enforced in Sierra Leone

Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leon, looked like a ghost town on Friday, according to reports.

Sierra Leone government is enforcing a nationwide three-day lockdown in a desperate attempt to limit the spread of Ebola.

This is the second time the West African country has enforced a countrywide lockdown, asking its population of more than six million people to stay home.

Although a previous lockdown in September 2014 was hailed as a success by the government, it was criticized by the medical aid organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), which argued that the quarantine would force the sick victims underground, instead of helping to contain the virus.

“The Ebola outbreak has been the largest, longest, most severe, and most complex in human history. Starting from the initial detection of the outbreak, to the arrival of the first responders, to the overwhelming spread of cases in West Africa — The Ebola Diaries is a series of first-person accounts describing what it has been like working on the front lines of a global health crisis of unprecedented proportion,” said WHO.

WHO released the EBOLA situation summary on March 26, 2015 (latest), which includes the total number of reported cases and deaths (confirmed, probable and suspected) for the high transmission countries (Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone).

• Guinea: 3,459 cases, with 2,273 deaths [As of March 24, 2015]
• Liberia: 9,602 cases, with 4,301 deaths  [As of March 22, 2015]
• Sierra Leone: 11,866 cases, with 3,764 deaths [As of March 24, 2015]
  Sub total: 24,927 cases, with 10,339 fatalities

In addition to the above, 8 Ebola deaths were reported in Nigeria, 6 in Mali and 1 in the U.S., bringing the total number of reported deaths since the start of the latest epidemic to 10,354.

Related Links

• Ebola Mass Quarantine: 2.5 Million People in Sierra Leone Lockdown March 20, 2015