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Mannheim – Three years ago today, the US-backed Saudi coalition bombed a school bus in northern Yemen, killing 51 people, 40 of them children.
The weapon used was a 500 pound laser guided MK 82 bomb produced by Lockheed Martin, a leading US defense contractor. A similar bomb manufactured by the US killed 155 people in Yemen and wounded many more in an attack on a funeral hall in October 2016. Another Saudi, US-supplied precision guided MK 84 weapon, killed 97 civilians in a Yemeni street market.
The Saudi-led coalition blamed the bombings on “incorrect information” and vowed to inquire into the causes of what it desrcibed as a mistake. Despite promises to investigate the incidents, data shows that the monitoring body set up in Riyadh to investigate the civilian casualties has only supported the Saudi military version of events in nearly every case.
During the period of 2015 to 2016, an analysis of 18,000 strikes indicated that almost one-third of the targets were non-military civilians or civilian infrastructure.
Activists in New York and California held a vigil for the deceased. “This event will be an opportunity for people from all over to speak out about the war crimes occurring with the Biden administration’s approval, as well as for those personally affected by the war to share testimonials,” organizers wrote in a press statement. “We will continue to apply pressure and demand an end to this war until war crimes are no longer the norm.”
Three years have passed since the airstrike obliterated a bus of school children, and the conditions in Yemen have deteriorated further. The war between the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthi rebels claimed the lives of nearly 233,000 people and according to the World Bank, 70% of Yemenis are also at risk of starvation.
“The six year conflict in Yemen has left 24 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, including 12.3 million children and 3.7 million internally displaced,” the Bank said in a report. “About 70 percent of the population is at risk of hunger in a country that is already among the most food-insecure countries in the world.”
The United Nations has described the situation in Yemen as the “worst humanitarian crisis in the world.”
Tim Lenderking, the United States’ special envoy to Yemen announced on Monday that they will provide $165 million in humanitarian aid to the war-torn country. “We are supporting efforts to prevent famine which is again becoming a very real threat,” Lenderking told reporters.
Additionally, President Biden recently announced that the US would cease supporting Saudi-led military operations, signaling a renewed focus on the US’ commitment to end the country’s civil war.
Many activists however believe these initiatives by the US and Biden are not enough. “The truth is, not much has changed. The US will continue to support the Saudis and the UAE,” the Yemen Foundation said in a press statement.
“This war has to end,” Biden said in a speech at the State Department. “At the same time, Saudi Arabia faces missile attacks, UAV drone strikes and other threats from Iranian supplied forces in multiple countries. We’re going to continue to support and help Saudia Arabia defend its sovereignty.”
Saudi Arabia’s Foriegn Minister Faisal bin Farhan al Saud welcomed Biden’s remarks.
For all President Biden’s talk about the US’ commitment to accountability, peace, and stability, many are not impressed in Yemen and think that the US will not take any decisive step in the direction of either ending the conflict or holding Saudi Arabia accountable.
“I am not convinced,”’ Yemeni activist Kawthar Abdullah told Morocco World News. “How many more children, men and women had to die for the world to wake up and for the US to take responsibility for the crimes they contributed to?”
