According to the Joint Incidents Assessment Team, the coalition did not attack the hospital in Baqem, Yemen, in 2021.

The Joint Incidents Assessment Team (JIAT) on Wednesday dismissed three allegations of Arab coalition attacks in Yemen in recent years as unfounded.

It was stressed that the procedures applied in these cases were in line with international humanitarian law.

At a press conference in Riyadh, JIAT spokesman Mansour al-Mansour said the team had so far examined 278 claims to reach conclusive results.

The JIAT assessed a March 2020 statement by Physicians for Human Rights on the coalition attack on Baqem Rural Hospital in Baqem region of Saada province in 2015. The statement said the attack resulted in severe damage to the facility.

Al-Mansour said the JIAT concluded that the hospital was located in the northeastern part of Baqem and that the coalition should not attack it.

In addition, the investigation found that the coalition did not carry out an airstrike on the city of Baqem on the date specified in the claim.

The second claim is that the coalition attacked a gas station between August and September 2020 during clashes between legitimate Yemeni forces and Iran-backed Houthi militias in Mahliya district of Marib province.

The JIAT investigated the incident and reviewed all documents, including air mission orders, the daily operational plan, operational procedures, operational reports, video recordings of the operation conducted, video recordings of the surveillance and reconnaissance systems, and satellite imagery.

It met with those who were concerned in relation to the military operation carried out, the statements of the supported unit of legitimate government forces, the rules of engagement of the coalition forces, the provisions and principles of international humanitarian law and its customary rules, and, after examining the evidence, determined that Mahliyah is located in the southern part of Marib.

The JIAT also noted that during the fighting between the legitimate forces and the Houthis, the former requested air support to attack a pickup truck carrying Houthi fighters and weapons.

The vehicle stopped at an abandoned gas station that had been occupied by the Houthis, meaning it was no longer legally protected and became a legitimate military target.

The verification was made possible by a reconnaissance and surveillance system that observed and tracked a vehicle loaded with Houthis’ fighters and weapons as it moved within the military’s area of ​​operations until it stopped and hid under a canopy.

Accordingly, coalition forces conducted an airstrike on a legitimate military target and used a guided bomb that hit its target.

The coalition forces have taken all possible precautions to prevent or at least minimize the accidental loss of or damage to civilian objects and items.

In the third case, al-Mansour rejected the claim that the coalition took up a position near where children were leaving a school in the Razih area of ​​Saada on November 23, 2019.

He said the JIAT determined that the coalition did not carry out any attacks in the area that day.