US Army Says Still Helping Saudi Arabia in War on Yemen

TEHRAN (defapress) – The US is still supporting the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen, an American army general said, days after lawmakers voted to end involvement in Riyadh's war on the impoverished country.

News ID: 75691

Date: 18 February 2019 - 14:00

The US continues to "provide support to the coalition, in particular to help them... be discriminative in targeting and to minimize the risk of civilian causalities", Major General David C. Hill, deputy commander of US Army Central, told AFP on Sunday.

The US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to direct President Donald Trump to end within 30 days all participation in hostilities "in or affecting Yemen", where Washington supports the Saudi-led coalition against the Arabian Peninsula country.

The US has been providing bombs and other weapons, as well as intelligence support, to the coalition, but announced in November it was ending refueling of Saudi warplanes.

The World Health Organization says some 10,000 people have been killed since Saudi Arabia launched its war on Yemen in 2015, but rights groups state the death toll could be five times as high.

The White House maintains close relations with Riyadh, but the gruesome murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia's Istanbul consulate in October has been followed by lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle increasingly pushing back.

Should the Senate pass the resolution on Yemen, it could force Trump to issue the first veto of his tenure.

In other comments on the sidelines of a military exhibition in Abu Dhabi, Hill said US Central Command remains focused on fighting Al-Qaeda and Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) in the Middle East.

"I believe that the end of the physical caliphate doesn't mean the end of ISIS" he said.

"We will continue to work closely with our partners across the region here to do just that."

In December Trump shocked allies when he announced he would withdraw all 2,000 US troops from Syria where he claims Daesh had already been "beaten".

The withdrawal plan is set to be accelerated after a victory announcement.

"We are conducting a withdrawal from Syria... but I am confident that we remain postured to continue fighting against ISIS," Hill said.

Message end/