US President Barack Obama’s administration has moved to block sales of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen, amid reports of mounting civilian casualties there, a US media report said on Saturday.
The report in the journal Foreign Policy, citing US officials, said that the White House had quietly placed a hold on the transfer of such munitions to the Sunni kingdom as it carries out a bloody war on Shiite militants in Yemen.
A Saudi-led coalition has been fighting the Iranian-backed Houthis since March last year, trying to roll back their control of wide swaths of Yemen.
Photo: AP
Asked by reporters for comment, an administration official said that “we are aware of reports that the Saudi-led coalition used cluster munitions in the armed conflict in Yemen, including in areas in which civilians are alleged to have been present.”
“We take such concerns seriously and are seeking additional information,” the official added.
Foreign Policy said it was the first concrete display of unease by US officials over bombings that human rights activists say have killed and injured hundreds of civilians, including children.
Cluster bombs are designed to kill enemy personnel and destroy vehicles or runways.
However, because they disperse scores of tiny bomblets over a wide area — some of which might not explode for years or even decades after being dropped — they pose a particular threat to civilians.
They were banned by an international treaty in 2008, but Russia and the US, both major suppliers, failed to sign it.
The US antiwar group CodePink yesterday applauded the administration’s decision and called on Obama to suspend all arms transfers to the kingdom.
Amnesty International on Monday last week said that the Saudi use of cluster bombs had created “minefields” for civilians in Yemen. It has called, along with Human Rights Watch, for a ban on arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
The US has sold Saudis millions of US dollars’ worth of cluster bombs and provided other forms of military support. The reported move on cluster bombs comes amid growing criticism by US lawmakers of the Saudi monarchy. Legislators are unhappy that Saudis have not done more to fight the Islamic State group’s militants in Syria, Yemen and elsewhere.
The longstanding US-Saudi relationship, built on an exchange of US security backing for a reliable supply of Saudi oil, has been strained as the US has gained greater energy independence even while reaching historic agreements with Saudi Arabia’s bitter regional foe, Iran.
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