Fighting escalated in March 2015 with the start of Saudi-led airstrikes targeting the Houthis and their allies who are loyal to Yemen’s ousted president. Rocket and mortar attacks and landmines used by rebels backing former president Ali Abdullah Saleh are blamed for about a quarter of the civilian deaths.
Advertisement
Human rights groups have argued that US forces may also be responsible under the rules of war for civilian casualties because of its support for the Saudi campaign.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has traveled to Saudi Arabia to discuss the Riyadh regime’s deadly war on Yemen as well as its involvement in the years-long Syria conflict, according a senior US official.
“The US administration with such remarks is itself becoming a partner in the child killings and war crimes committed by the Saudi regime against the innocent people of Yemen”.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir said that the new initiative would give the UN Yemen envoy a “road map” of sorts to use when negotiating with the warring parties.
On Thursday, Kerry announced almost $189 million in additional humanitarian aid for Yemen, bringing the total amount of U.S. assistance to more than $327 million since October 2015.
Kerry lashed out at Iran, saying its arms shipments to the Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen posed a threat to the United States.
During this period, IHS Jane’s assesses that coalition air strikes, predominantly by Saudi Arabia, are likely to be concentrated on Saudi-Yemeni border areas, and districts north of the capital Sanaa in support of pro-government Yemeni forces.
The UN called Thursday for a probe into alleged human rights violations by all sides in Yemen’s conflict in which civilians have paid the heaviest price in human lives.
United Nations -sponsored talks to end the 18-months of infighting collapsed earlier this month, when the Iran-allied Houthi began fighting again with the supporters of displaced interim President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other rights groups have similarly urged the US, United Kingdom and France to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia until it curtails its airstrikes in Yemen.
CUSTODIAN of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman on Thursday held crucial talks with the visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry. He also announced an aid package to the war-torn country, where thousands of civilians have died in Saudi-led bombings.
Since March 2015, the Saudi-led coalition of mostly Persian Gulf countries has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi’s request despite a ceasefire agreed shortly before.
The US reiterated its support for the Arab state in November a year ago, when it approved a $1.29 billion rearming program for Riyadh.
The State Department official said Kerry’s talks with Saudi leaders also covered Libya, where a UN-backed Government of National Accord is challenged by a rival administration.
“The restoration of stability to Yemen is vital in order to ease the suffering and to prevent groups like al-Qaida and Daesh from taking further advantage of the political and security vacuum and the instability that has been created”, Secretary of State John Kerry said at a press conference while in Saudi Arabia on August 25. We do our best to investigate when we have reports of these, and we have investigated them.
Advertisement
Russian Federation has primarily targeted rebels, some backed by Saudi Arabia, who are fighting to overthrow president Bashar Al Assad, making Riyadh’s support for the plan crucial.
