British and US Military ’in Command Room’ for Saudi Strikes on Yemen

Local Editor

Saudi Foreign Minister, Adel al-Jubeir, said that British and American military officials are in the command and control center for Saudi airstrikes on Yemen, and that they have access to lists of targets, although they do not play any role in choosing them.

Human rights groups, the European parliament and the UN all expressed concerns about airstrikes by a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

According to UN estimates, nearly 3,000 civilians were martyred in Yemen since full-blown civil war broke out in March. A million other people were displaced and the country is now at serious risk of famine.

In the context, the UK government has been put on notice that it is in breach of international law for allowing the export of British-made missiles and military equipment to Saudi Arabia that might have been used to kill civilians.

The British Ministry of Defense confirmed that its forces were in the operation room to provide training and advice "on best practice targeting techniques to help ensure continued compliance with international humanitarian law", under a long-standing arrangement.

Besides, al-Jubeir told journalists in London after meeting British ministers and US secretary of state: "We have British officials and American officials and officials from other countries in our command and control center. They know what the target list is and they have a sense of what it is that we are doing and what we are not doing."

For its part, Amnesty International warned of "a pattern of appalling disregard for civilian lives displayed by the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition," and the UN expressed similar concerns.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team