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Bomb That Killed 40 Children in Yemen Was US-Supplied: Report

  • Houthi supporters rally against the alleged involvement of the United States in the deteriorating Yemeni economy in Sanaa, August 17, 2018.

    Houthi supporters rally against the alleged involvement of the United States in the deteriorating Yemeni economy in Sanaa, August 17, 2018. | Photo: Reuters

Published 19 August 2018
Opinion

The origin of the bomb launched by the Saudi-led coalition earlier this month that struck a school bus in Yemen has been traced back to a U.S. defense contractor.

The bomb that struck a school bus passing by a market and killed 51 people including 40 children earlier this month on Aug. 9, was made and supplied to the Saudi-led coalition by the United States, a report by a U.S. media outlet found. 

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UN Security Council Requests Credible Probe Into Saudi Airstrikes in Yemen

A spokesperson for the coalition said that the attack targeted Houthi rebels, allegedly in accordance with the humanitarian international law. The attack hit a market, and the school bus passing by it, killing over 50 people and injuring hundreds.

"Working with local Yemeni journalists and munitions experts, CNN has established that the weapon that left dozens of children dead on August 9 was a 500-pound (227 kilograms) laser-guided MK 82 bomb made by Lockheed Martin, one of the top US defense contractors," reported the news network CNN Friday.

This bomb has similar characteristics to the one that killed over 150 people in an attack by the Saudi-led coalition that hit a funeral in 2016. This attack saw former U.S. President Barack Obama banning the sale of precision-guided weapons to Saudi Arabia in 2016. However, the Trump administration overruled the ban last year shortly after coming to power.

The United Nations Security Council has called for a credible investigation into the Saudi-led airstrike that killed at least 40 children in Yemen, after hitting a school bus. This is not the first time that the West-backed coalition has hit civilian targets, as it has attacked markets, hospitals, weddings, and funerals.

The Yemen war has killed more than 10,000 people, more than half of them are civilians, displaced more than 2 million and left the country on the verge of famine, according to the United Nations.

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