Local Editor

Human Rights Watch [HRW] said the United States should stop selling bombs to Saudi Arabia while the country is engaged in war on neighboring Yemen.

The New York-based rights NGO urged the administration of US President Barack Obama to stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia "in the absence of serious investigations into alleged laws-of-war violations in Yemen".

"The Obama administration should not sell aerial bombs to Saudi Arabia", read the statement, referring to a recent deal between US and the Saudis.

Despite widespread criticism of the high civilian death toll, the Pentagon has approved a $1.29 billion deal for more than 19,000 smart bombs to Saudi Arabia earlier this week. 

The Pentagon’s "Defense" Security Cooperation Agency [DSCA] said in a statement at the time that it is committed to support the Royal Saudi Air Force [RSAF] in the bombardment of Yemen, which has taken the lives of thousands in the impoverished country.

Deputy Middle East and North Africa director, Joe Stork, said that, "The US government is well aware of the Saudi-led coalition’s indiscriminate air attacks that have killed hundreds of civilians in Yemen since March". 

"Providing the Saudis with more bombs under these circumstances is a recipe for greater civilian deaths, for which the US will be partially responsible", he said. 

"Until Saudi Arabia investigates apparently unlawful strikes by coalition warplanes and takes appropriate action, the US should not be supplying them more bombs", he further said. 

The sale includes 22,000 smart and general purpose bombs, including 1,000 GBU-10 Paveway II Laser Guided Bombs, and over 5,000 Joint Direct Attack Munitions kits to turn older bombs into precision-guided weapons using GPS signals, according to Reuters.

In Yemen, a Saudi-led coalition backed by the United States has been carrying out a military aggression on the country by launching deadly airstrikes since March 26.

The airstrikes have not been authorized by the United Nations [UN].