Contracts worth 2.2 billion pounds for the supply of various manned aircraft and drones to Saudi Arabia were signed by the UK government between April 2015 and March 2016, and a further 1.1 billion pounds worth of bombs, missiles and other explosives and 430,000 pounds worth of armored vehicles and tanks were supplied in the same period, the Independent newspaper reported.
Yemen has been engulfed in a military conflict between the Aden-based government with the Saudi-led coalition backing on one side and Houthi rebels allied with the General People’s Congress (GPC) and army units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh on the other, for over a year. The coalition has been accused by the United Nations and humanitarian organizations of indiscriminately bombing civilians and killing hundreds of children.
The accusations have been denied by the government, with former Foreign Secretary Philipp Hammond stating that Saudi Arabia was complying with international human rights laws in Yemen.
