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December 14, 2016

U.S. Reportedly Halts Some Weapons Sales to Saudis over War in Yemen
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U.S. has reportedly halted the sale of some weapons to Saudi Arabia amid
mounting concerns about the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led bombing campaign in
Yemen. Since March 2015, more than 10,000 people have died in the
ongoing conflict in Yemen-the vast majority killed by Saudi-led
airstrikes. The U.S. has continued to sell warplanes and munitions to
the Saudi-led coalition throughout the war, and U.S.-made munitions have
been found at the scene of Saudi-led bombings where civilians have been
killed. On Tuesday, an unnamed official told Reuters, "We've decided not
to move forward with some foreign military sales cases for air-dropped
munitions, PGMs [precision-guided munitions]. That's obviously a direct
reflection of the concerns that we have about Saudi strikes that have
resulted in civilian casualties." The ongoing war has also sparked a
medical and hunger crisis. A new UNICEF report says a child dies every
10 minutes in Yemen because of malnutrition, diarrhea or
respiratory-tract infection. The report also says Yemen's most heavily
bombed region, the Saada governorate, now has the world's highest rate
of stunting, a symptom of chronic malnourishment in children.


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