Saudi-Led Coalition Used Brazilian-Made Rockets in Yemen - Amnesty Int'l

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Saudi-led coalition has used Brazilian-manufactured rockets containing banned cluster munitions on residential areas in the Yemeni city of Sadah on February 15, a human rights watchdog said Thursday.

“The Saudi Arabia-led coalition absurdly justifies its use of cluster munitions by claiming it is in line with international law, despite concrete evidence of the human cost to civilians caught up in the conflict. Cluster munitions are inherently indiscriminate weapons that inflict unimaginable harm on civilian lives. The use of such weapons is prohibited by customary international humanitarian law under all circumstances," Director of Research at Amnesty International Beirut regional office Lynn Maalouf said as quoted in the watchdog's report.

Yemen's civil war between the internationally recognized Aden-based government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and the Houthi movement backed by army units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh erupted in March 2015. The same month, the Saudi-led coalition of Arab countries started carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request.

According to the official data, the conflict in Yemen has claimed the lives of some 4,600 civilians, leaving over 8,000 civilians injured.