Local Editor

Britain is transferring precision-guided bombs once intended for its Royal Air Force to Saudi Arabia so the Kingdom can build up a supply of the bombs it is using against targets in Yemen and Syria.

Defense News reported that the air forces of both nations use the precision-guided Paveway IV bomb on BAE Systems-supplied Tornado and Typhoon jets, making stocks easily interchangeable.

The Saudi Royal Air Force has been using the highly accurate, 500-pound bombs in its airstrikes in Yemen.

Earlier this week, the UK Ministry of Defense, responding to a House of Lords question regarding the amount of assistance Britain had given the Saudi government in its fight in Yemen, said:

"We are not participating directly in Saudi-led military operations in Yemen, but we are providing technical support, precision-guided weapons and exchanging information with the Saudi Arabian armed forces through pre-existing arrangements."

A Ministry of Defence spokesman declined to comment beyond the answer given to the parliamentarian.

A Saudi-led coalition backed by the United States has been carrying out airstrikes against Yemen since March. The airstrikes have not been authorized by the United Nations [UN].

Anti-arms trade campaigners have criticized Britain’s support of the Saudis in the conflict in Yemen.

"The Saudi bombing has created a humanitarian catastrophe and now we know the UK weapons have contributed to it," Andrew Smith, of Campaign Against the Arms Trade, has said in an interview with RT.

"With the destruction of Yemen and the intensifying crackdown on dissent in Saudi Arabia, the UK government is sending the message that human rights and democracy are less important than arms sales".