But an investigation conducted by coalition officials into claims that Saudi warplanes have directly targeted civilians found that the air strikes had been justified because the Iranian-backed rebels had been using civilian institutions, such as hospitals, as command posts to launch attacks against coalition forces and their allies.
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“The proposed sale will improve Saudi Arabia’s capability to meet current and future threats and provide greater security for its critical infrastructure”, a Pentagon notice announcing the approval of the sale said.
A man looks for survivors under the rubble of a food factory hit by Saudi-led air strikes in Sanaa, Yemen.
A Saudi-led military coalition has been battling the rebels and their allies since March 2015 in support of Yemen’s internationally recognized government.
In the first such attacks since 11 April -when an often-violated ceasefire was put in place- Saudi-led jets bombed a potato factory in the capital’s Nahda district on Tuesday, killing at least 14 people working there, mostly women.
“More than 20 workers were killed, not counting those that are still unaccounted for (because of) Al Saud (the Saudi ruling family), the Jews”, said Ali Mohammed, a factory worker. “You know, civilian casualties are obviously of grave concern to us”, she said.
U.S. lawmakers will have 30 days to review the arms sale before any weapons can be transferred.
Since the start of two-year war, the Saudi-led coalition has controlled of the airspace over neighboring Yemen.
U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from CT who has been critical of arms sales to Saudi Arabia, said in a statement that he was concerned about the high civilian casualty rate in Yemen.
Yemeni expatriate killed a policeman in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday by running him over with his vehicle and then stabbing him, the state news agency SPA reported.
Violence has continued to rage in Yemen following the suspension last week of Kuwait-hosted peace talks between Yemen’s Saudi Arabia-backed government and the Houthi militia, which critics accuse of serving as a proxy for Shia Iran.
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United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was concerned about the reports of increased fighting, a U.N. spokesman said on Tuesday, but added the world body was unable to independently verify reports of civilians deaths.
