WASHINGTON, Dec. 13 (UPI) — The U.S. government has stopped supplying some weapons and intelligence to Middle East ally Saudi Arabia, concerned that the materials may be fundamentally involved in the collateral deaths of civilians caught up in Yemen’s civil war.
The policy change was outlined in multiple news reports Tuesday — and effectively confirmed by State Department spokesman John Kirby — which said President Barack Obama‘s administration decided to take “corrective” action to mitigate the substantial toll on Yemenis that’s come with nearly two years of civil fighting.
Mounting civilian casualties have been reported in the war-scarred country, and Obama ordered a review of the situation in October after 140 civilian funeral goers were killed by a Saudi-led coalition airstrike meant for Shiite Houthi rebels.
