A laser-guided bomb made by a US company was used in an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition in western Yemen in late June, in which six civilians, including children were killed, a prominent human rights watchdog said on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th September, 2019) A laser-guided bomb made by a US company was used in an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition in western Yemen in late June, in which six civilians, including children were killed, a prominent human rights watchdog said on Thursday.
On June 28, a residential home in the village of Warzan in Yemen's Taiz governorate was hit during an airstrike launched by the Saudi-led coalition, killing six people, including three children aged between six and 12.
According to Amnesty International's researchers, who analyzed photos of the remnants of the weapons used in the attack, a GBU-12 Paveway II made by the US Raytheon defense contractor, had been launched by the coalition.
The watchdog called the attack a serious violation of international law and condemned the United States and other arms-supplying countries for their continued support of the coalition.
"It is unfathomable and unconscionable that the USA continues to feed the conveyor belt of arms flowing into Yemen's devastating conflict," Rasha Mohamed, one of the researchers, said, adding that by supplying weapons to the coalition, Washington shared responsibility for the war crimes.
Amnesty International called for an embargo to be established on all weapons that could be used in the Yemeni conflict.
On Tuesday, at least 16 civilians were killed in a bombing by the coalition in the Yemeni central province of Dhale.
The Saudi-led coalition has been engaged in the civil war in Yemen since March 2015, when it began carrying out airstrikes against the Houthi rebels at the request of President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi. A UN human rights report released last year attributed most of the 16,000 civilian deaths in Yemen to the coalition's airstrikes on targets such as hospitals, schools and open-air markets. However, the report also said that all parties to the conflict are likely responsible for war crimes. According to UN estimates, over 20 million people in Yemen are currently in need of humanitarian assistance.
Anti-arms campaigners have repeatedly criticized arms deliveries to the Saudi-led coalition, attempting to block them via court proceedings and legislative initiatives. In the most recent case in late July, US President Donald Trump vetoed a handful of bipartisan resolutions that prohibited weapons transfers to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and European states due to concerns the munitions were being used to kill civilians in Yemen.
