The US military is distancing itself from the Saudi-led coalition’s war in Yemen following airstrikes against civilian targets, including hospitals.
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A Saudi-led coalition force has been carrying out air strikes in Yemen since March 2015 in attempts to oust the rebels and defend the internationally recognised government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
As Robert Naiman explains, “In this particular case, it’s plausible that if we can block the Saudi arms sale, or even come close and have a robust public food fight about it, we can help end the catastrophic Yemen war”.
The reality remains that the U.S., even the overt uniformed operations, continues to provide key support to Saudi Arabia’s war, and therefore to its war crimes.
News of the change comes as criticism mounts against the Saudi-led campaign and its US support following airstrikes that killed civilians.
Another air attack on Saturday hit what MSF described as a school in neighbouring Saada province, killing 10 children.
The Saudi-led coalition said it was committed to respecting worldwide humanitarian law in its Yemen campaign and said it had set up an independent team to investigate incidents in which civilians are killed.
However, Brigadier General Ahmed al-Asseri, spokesman for the Saudi-led forces has down played Washington’s move and has declined to confirm the role of United States military personnel now after the withdrawal.
MSF said on Thursday it was pulling its staff from six hospitals in northern Yemen after a coalition air strike hit a health facility operated by the group, killing 19 people.
Saudi Arabia is expressing its regret over the decision by Doctors Without Borders to pull its staff out of six hospitals in northern Yemen. Houthi-run Al-Masirah television said the rockets had targeted a Saudi air force base. The Houthis captured Sanaa in 2014, and the usa -backed coalition began its offensive against them in March 2015.
” The road is heavily mined so we must concentrate on sweeping the area to avoid unnecessary loss of life among the fighters”, said the commander.
The group says the bombing of the Abs hospital in Hajjah governorate earlier this week was the fourth attack on an MSF-supported facility in the past year. Chris Murphy (D-CT) complaining to Jake Tapper of CNN on Wednesday that Congress isn’t debating the “unauthorized” war in Yemen.
Regarding the August 15 attack, MSF said it “is neither satisfied nor reassured by the Saudi-led coalition’s statement that this attack was a mistake”.(ANSAmed).
United States representative Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California and a colonel in the Air Force Reserve, said he believed such strikes could help galvanise votes for limiting arms transfers to Saudi Arabia.
The UN chief has repeated his call for all sides in the conflict in Yemen to “immediately cease all hostilities”, following a devastating series of raids resulting in numerous civilian deaths and injuries.
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Thousands of civilians have been killed in the violence.
