The role of British and American weapons in killing Yemenis

The British Guardian newspaper revealed part of the role of American and British weapons in killing the Yemeni people, based on a report by Oxfam.

The newspaper stated that at least 87 civilians were killed in air strikes launched by the Saudi-led coalition forces in Yemen using weapons provided by Britain and the United States between January 2021 and February 2022, according to a new analysis by Oxfam.

Oxfam accused the British government of ignoring the identifiable “pattern of damage” resulting from the indiscriminate bombing, explaining that it has reached a point that, by law, Britain is forced to end its lucrative arms trade with Riyadh.

The newspaper quoted Martin Butcher, policy advisor at Oxfam, as saying that 431 air strikes were monitored between January 2021 and February 2022, and that “the intensity of these attacks would not have been possible without the ready supply of weapons.”

Butcher added that the sheer number of attacks, and the number of civilian casualties of 87 killed and 136 injured, is a “pattern of violence against civilians” and represents the failure of all parties to the conflict, including arms suppliers, to prevent it.

The Oxfam report stated that 13 other air strikes were carried out by British or US-made aircraft on hospitals and clinics, with farms and homes routinely hit, forcing civilians to leave their homes or shelters after a total of 293 air strikes.

The report indicated that the Saudi Air Force uses British Typhoon and Tornado aircraft and American F-15 aircraft.

He mentioned that some bombs used, such as the Paveway IV, are British-made, as the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) estimated that the total value of British arms sales to Saudi Arabia since the war on Yemen began in 2015, amounted to 23 billion pounds.

The report criticized the UK’s failure to take any measures to restrict arms sales, calling for stopping arming Saudi Arabia.