Yemen hospital destroyed by rocket, four dead

A hospital supported by the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Yemen has been hit by a rocket, killing at least four people and injuring 10 others, the charity said.

In a series of tweets, MSF said it was the third “severe incident” in as many months affecting its facilities in the country.

Three of the injured are MSF staff, two of whom are in critical condition. The number of dead could rise as people could still be trapped under the rubble.

"We strongly condemn this and we reiterate to all parties to the conflict that patients & medical facilities must be respected," a statement by MSF on Twitter said about the incident in the town of Razeh.

The organisation did not say who was behind the attack, but that "planes were seen flying over the facility at the time".

“All warring parties, including the Saudi led coalition, are regularly informed of the location of the medical sites where MSF works … There is no way that anyone with the capacity to carry out an airstrike or launch a rocket would not have known that the Shiara Hospital was a functioning facility supported by MSF,” it said.

The area in Razeh is a stronghold of Houthi rebels, who are at war with the Yemeni government and an Arab military coalition, which includes Saudi Arabia.

In October, a hospital in Saada province run by MSF was hit by what it said was a coalition air strike - a claim the coalition denied. In December,a  health centre in Taiz was also hit, wounding nine people.

Yemen is facing a humanitarian crisis brought on by the war between the Houthis and pro-government forces.

Hospitals across the country are warning they are running low on essential equipment and are on the brink of shutting down.

The UN warned in December that food supplies in the country were depleting rapidly and that up to half of the country was facing famine.

Yemen's ongoing conflict started in March last year when Arab forces intervened to restore the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who fled when Houthi rebels took over the souther port city of Aden.

The conflict has killed almost 6,000 people so far according to the UN.