Monday, April 15, 2019

Weapons in Yemen

French arms including tanks and laser-guided missile systems sold to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are being used in the Yemeni war against civilians.

President Emmanuel Macron and his government, has said that as far as it knows French-made arms sold to Saudi Arabia are used solely for defensive purposes on the border.

French-made tanks were deployed in  bases including Mocha, Aden, al-Khawkhah along the coast and Ma'rib.


Leclerc tanks bought by the UAE had taken part in coalition offensives, including the campaign for control of the rebel-held port of Hodeidah.


UAE Mirage fighter jets were equipped with a laser-guided system made by Thales known as Damocles which it said were possibly being used in Yemen.


Caesar cannons, manufactured by French company Nexter and deployed along the Saudi-Yemeni frontier, conduct defensive shelling of Houthi forces as well as back up "loyalist troops and Saudi armed forces in their progression into Yemeni territory".

http://news.trust.org/item/20190415123649-rf18v/

The reality is that countries that supply weapons to the Saudi-led coalition—having known for years that they may be used in unlawful attacks—risk complicity in committing grave violations of the laws of war

The Saudi-led bombing campaign in North Yemen primarily relies on three types of aircraft: American F-15s, British EF-2000 Typhoons, and European Tornado fighters. The Saudis fly American Apache and Black Hawk helicopters into Yemen from military bases in Saudi Arabia, as well as the French AS-532 Cougar. They have lined the Saudi-Yemen border with American Abrams and French AMX 30 tanks, reinforced by at least five types of Western-made artillery guns. And the coalition blockade, which is aimed at cutting off aid to the Houthi rebels but has also interfered with humanitarian aid shipments, relies on U.S., French, and German models of attack ships... as well as two types of French naval helicopters.

 In addition, radar and detection systems from Sweden; Austrian Camcopter drones; defensive naval rockets from South Korea, Italian warships, and even rocket launcher batteries from Brazil.

Many of the weapons systems are only compatible with munitions, spare parts, and communications systems produced in NATO countries, meaning that the Saudis and UAE would have to replace large portions of their arsenals to continue with Russian or Chinese weapons.


In other words: The West can stop the carnage. But it chooses profit over life.


No comments: