Local Editor
The Saudi-led Arab coalition bombing Yemen said on Monday it would stop using British-made BL-755 cluster munitions in the country where thousands of civilians have been killed in 20 months of conflict.
"The government of Saudi Arabia confirms that it has decided to stop the use of cluster munitions of the type BL-755 and informed the United Kingdom government of that," Saudi state news agency SPA reported.
The coalition has used the munitions, which scatter bomblets across a wide area, allegedly "in a limited way" to protect its borders, the statement said.
The news comes following a report published by The Guardian stating that the British government issued an internal report confirming media reports that UK-made cluster munitions could have been used by the coalition in Yemen.
It also added that UK Defense Secretary Michael Fallon had seen the government analysis indicating the use of British-made cluster bombs by Riyadh. The minister learned about the results of the report about a month ago, the sources said.
Late last year, Amnesty International reported that civilian infrastructure in Yemen was destroyed by the Saudi-led coalition using a UK-made cruise missile. Later, The Independent newspaper reported that the British government could be prosecuted for war crimes after more evidence emerged of the use of UK weapons sold to Saudi Arabia against civilian targets in Yemen.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
