The spokesman of the Office for the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq, Mr David Wimhurst, announced at a press briefing yesterday that two medical facilities have been targeted: one a clinic at the Shia Muslim holy city of Najaf, where the ambulance was also hit and the driver killed, and the other a hospital at Nassiriya which was partially damaged.
He made the point that the parties to the conflict are "bound to observe the Fourth Geneva Convention, particularly Article 18", which calls for respect for civilian medical installations. He also said local Kurdish authorities at Suleimaniya appropriated 10 vehicles belonging to the UN.
The loss of these vehicles will impair UN humanitarian operations in this area, where thousands of people have left their homes. He revealed that between 500,000 and 800,000 people are now internally displaced in the three Kurdish-controlled northern territories.
The UN will make representations to the Kurdish observer at headquarters in New York, he stated.
