Spain May Limit Arms Exports To Saudi Arabia Amid Strikes In Yemen - Ministry

The government of Spain may reconsider Madrid's arms supplies to Riyadh and other members of the Saudi-led coalition amid recent deadly airstrikes on civilian targets in Yemen, the Spanish Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

MADRID (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th August, 2018) The government of Spain may reconsider Madrid's arms supplies to Riyadh and other members of the Saudi-led coalition amid recent deadly airstrikes on civilian targets in Yemen, the Spanish Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

Last week, Yemeni media reported that the Saudi-led coalition's warplanes had struck a school bus at a busy market in northern Yemeni province of Saada, a stronghold of Houthi rebels, who are engaged in violent conflict with the government supported by the coalition. The strike reportedly killed at least 50 people and wounded another 77. Over half of the killed were children under the age of 15.

"The Spanish companies' sales of military equipment to all the states of the region are subject to stringent conditions, including the guarantees by the government of a state where the arms go that weapons will not be used beyond the borders of that state.

The [Spanish] government, tasked by its head [Pedro Sanchez], will study these conditions to ensure they are met," the ministry said in a statement.

Over the past year, Spain supplied about 361 million Euros (over $411 million) worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia and its gulf allies who have supported the Yemeni government forces in the fight against Houthis rebels since March 2015. Human rights watchdogs have dubbed the war "the worlds largest humanitarian catastrophe," claiming that since joining the conflict, the Saudi-led coalition conducted multiple airstrikes against civilian targets, some of which can amount to war crimes.