Upheaval in Yemen's Aden stretches hospital

By Sami Aboudi ADEN (Reuters) - As Houthi fighters close in on the Yemen port city of Aden, the wounded from clashes and other incidents are pouring into overwhelmed hospitals. "We were not ready to face this kind of situation," said Valerie Pierre, coordinator for aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), which runs a 45-bed hospital in Aden. "The competency is there, but in terms of the number of staff, it's not enough." Many of the victims are young men wounded by gunshots or bomb shrapnel. Not all injuries were directly sustained in combat. One young man arrived in a van which screeched into the courtyard of the MSF hospital, where medics waited with stretchers. He was the victim of a quarrel with two armed men near a taxi stand after he refused to give up his own rifle before boarding. The bullet only grazed his forehead. Doctors at the hospital have struggled to cope with more than 250 patients from Aden and nearby provinces in the 10 days since Iranian-backed Houthi fighters and allied army units pushed to Aden's gates in a campaign to topple Western-backed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Saudi Arabia, along with several Arab allies launched air strikes to stem the Houthis' advance but rebel forces are still massed on the outskirts of Aden. Hadi himself is in Saudi Arabia. Saddam Saleh Jaber, 25, said he had been operated on three times since gunmen claiming to be from al Qaeda shot him in the leg below the knee while they tried to break into the traffic department in nearby city of Lahj, where he worked as a guard. "I am due for a fourth surgery," said Jaber, a police cadet who had been on leave when the advance on Aden began. "I am lucky not only to be alive but also that I ran into a Medicine Sans Frontiers team after I was shot," he added. SHRAPNEL WOUNDS AND BURNS The latest victims suffered from shrapnel wounds and severe burns caused by the explosion of Aden's main arms depot as looters tried to break in and grab weapons. At least 15 people were killed in the series of blasts which scattered debris across town and belched out plumes of smoke. Two of the victims died at the Medicine Sans Frontiers hospital and staff were preparing the bodies for burial before handing them over to their families for burial. Medics say the main challenges facing the team of nearly 150 mostly local staff is to the security of the hospital and maintaining medical supplies. "Everything is OK now, but if things get worse we will need supplies. We need an emergency team to reach us, either from Sanaa or from Paris," Pierre told Reuters. State institutions have been paralysed by the war while seaports and airports remain shuttered since the bombing began. The exhausted medics admit being confused by the array of armed groups and the political upheaval that has rocked the country. But the hospital remains open to all. "We never ask who they are or who they belong to," said Pierre. "Only, armed men are kindly asked to remain outside." (Editing by Noah Browning and Angus MacSwan)