US Sends $331mln Bill to Saudi Arabia, UAE After Refueling 'Accounting Error'

Rasa - Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates should pay the US military $331 million more for the aerial refueling they received during the Yemen war, the Pentagon said, citing an "accounting error".

News ID: 442132

Date: 16 December 2018 - 19:13

RNA - The Pentagon is still looking forward to recuperating outstanding refueling costs that were amassed between March 2015, when the Saudi-led coalition attacked Yemen, and November 2018, when the service was pulled amid international criticism.

Commander Rebecca Rebarich, a Pentagon spokeswoman, stated on Friday that the US Central Command (CENTCOM) was specifically looking to reimburse about $36.8 million for fuel costs and $294.3 million for flight hours, which were not included in the initial bills and were therefore paid for with taxpayer money.

"US Central Command reviewed its records and found errors in accounting where we failed to charge the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) adequately for fuel and refueling services. USCENTCOM calculated the correct charges, and Department of Defense is in the process of seeking reimbursement," she said in a statement to CNN.

While the Donald Trump administration has shown little interest in ending the war, the Senate made it clear on Thursday that it wanted Washington out of the conflict.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing the government of former Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the Ansarullah movement.

Official UN figures say that more than 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen since the Saudi-led bombing campaign began in March 2015. But the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) believes that at least 56,000 people have lost their lives in the war. The violence has also left around two-thirds of Yemen’s population of 27 million relying on aid amid an ongoing strict naval and aerial blockade. According to the world body, Yemen is suffering from the most severe famine in more than 100 years.

Save the Children, a charity, has reported that more than 84,700 children under the age of five may have starved to death in Yemen since the Saudi regime and a coalition of its allies launched the brutal war on the already-impoverished nation.

According to Fars News Agency, 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 number of Western countries, the US, the UK, and France in particular, are accused of being complicit in the ongoing aggression as they supply the Riyadh regime with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as logistical and intelligence assistance.

An Oxfam representative stated that the US, UK, and French governments are behind millions of people starving in Yemen because they are “supporting this war".

“We have 14 million people starving,” Richard Stanforth, Oxfam UK’s regional policy officer for the Middle East, told RT, adding that "British, French, American governments are all behind this, they are all supporting this war".

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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