Saudi Bombers Continue Massacring Civilians in Yemen

Rasa - The Saudi-led coalition fighter jets hit residential area in Yemen, and killed and wounded scores of civilians as Riyadh's air campaign against the Arab country has so far killed more than 15,700 Yemenis.

News ID: 436954

Date: 22 March 2018 - 21:28

RNA - Saudi warplanes hit residential buildings in the Ghamar district of the mountainous province of Sa’ada early on Thursday, killing at least 17 civilians, including women and children, according to Yemen’s al-Masiyrah television network.

It came after the US Senate rejected a resolution that would end Washington military support for Saudi Arabia in Yemen. It came just as President Donald Trump meets the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MbS) for talks in Washington, DC.

The chamber voted 55-44 on Tuesday afternoon to dismiss a resolution that would compel the US military to stop assisting Saudi bombing operations in Yemen.

The bipartisan bill – backed by Senators Bernie Sanders, Mike Lee and Chris Murphy – sought to invoke the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which gives Congress the authority to overrule the President and withdraw military aid if it decides a conflict is unauthorized.

The US has backed the Saudi forces with intelligence, ammunition and refueling and is also a major supplier of arms to Saudi Arabia, the region’s richest country, and its allies in the conflict.

US Defense Secretary James Mattis has defended US military support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.  In a letter sent last week to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Mattis wrote that “New restrictions on this limited US military support could increase civilian casualties, jeopardize cooperation with our partners on counter-terrorism and reduce our influence with the Saudis – all of which would further exacerbate the situation and humanitarian crisis.”

Last week US Army General Joseph Votel admitted that the US does not monitor how the weapons it supplies to Saudi Arabia are used in Yemen. During a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Votel was asked whether US Central Command tracks the purpose of the Saudi missions it refuels in Yemen.

“We do not,” he replied.

According to Fars News Agancy, Saudi Arabia has been striking Yemen since March 2015 to restore power to fugitive president Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh. The Saudi-led aggression has so far killed at least 15,700 Yemenis, including hundreds of women and children.

Despite Riyadh's claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi bombers are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.

According to several reports, the Saudi-led air campaign against Yemen has driven the impoverished country towards humanitarian disaster, as Saudi Arabia's deadly campaign prevented the patients from travelling abroad for treatment and blocked the entry of medicine into the war-torn country.

Yemen is the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with more than 22 million people in need and is seeing a spike in needs, fuelled by ongoing conflict, a collapsing economy and diminished social services and livelihoods.

A UN panel has compiled a detailed report of civilian casualties caused by the Saudi military and its allies during their war against Yemen, saying the Riyadh-led coalition has used precision-guided munitions in its raids on civilian targets.

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