US Bomb Pieces Found at Yemen Bus Strike Site as Pentagon Says ‘We May Never Know’ Who Supplied It
A Raytheon Mark 82
general-purpose free-fall bomb was likely used by the Saudi-led
coalition to strike a bus full of children in Yemen on Thursday, a local
journalist claims, after bomb fragments
from the scene were recovered.
The Saudi-led coalition struck a school bus in the Dahyan area of the
Houthi-controlled Saada province last Thursday, leaving 51 dead, most
of them children, and injuring at least 79 others. Just as the dust was
settling at the scene of the strike with charred bodies being recovered,
locals found fragments of the bomb used.
Harrowing images from the site, shared by journalist Nasser Arrabyee, show fragments that appear to be from the 500-pound MK-82 bomb, which the US continues to sell to Saudi Arabia.
While the photo of the fragments has yet to be independently verified, pieces of MK-82 bombs have surfaced repeatedly amid the ongoing Yemen bombing campaign. The MK-82 made shocking headlines in 2016 when the Saudi-led coalition bombed a community hall in Sanaa during a funeral for Sheikh Ali al-Rawishan, killing more than 140 people and wounding 525 others.
Harrowing images from the site, shared by journalist Nasser Arrabyee, show fragments that appear to be from the 500-pound MK-82 bomb, which the US continues to sell to Saudi Arabia.
While the photo of the fragments has yet to be independently verified, pieces of MK-82 bombs have surfaced repeatedly amid the ongoing Yemen bombing campaign. The MK-82 made shocking headlines in 2016 when the Saudi-led coalition bombed a community hall in Sanaa during a funeral for Sheikh Ali al-Rawishan, killing more than 140 people and wounding 525 others.
Arms sales to Saudi Arabia have
repeatedly been condemned by human rights organizations, who view them
as one of the main contributing factors to the skyrocketing death toll
in the war-torn country. More than 10,000 people have been killed in
three years of war, according to United Nations estimates, while the
Saudi Arabian blockade continues to contribute to starvation and disease
in the country.
Despite repeated calls by NGOs and even US lawmakers to halt arms
supplies to the Saudis amid the ongoing conflict, in 2016 and 2017, the
Pentagon went on to award Lockheed Martin/General Dynamics key contracts
to supply the MK-82 500-pound bombs to the Arab coalition.Yet, despite the apparent arms sale trail between Washington and Riyadh, the Pentagon advised earlier this week that it might be impossible to tell where the bomb that annihilated the school bus came from. In 2016, the US approved MK-82 sales to Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, France, and Iraq, while extending the deal to Australia and Bahrain the following year.
“We may never know if the munition [used] was one that the US sold to them,”Army Maj. Josh Jacques, a spokesperson for US Central Command, told Vox. “We don’t have a lot of people on the ground.”*
Featured image is from Antiwar.com
The original source of this article is RT World News
Copyright © RT News, RT World News, 2018
Comment on Global Research Articles on our Facebook page
Become a Member of Global Research
No comments:
Post a Comment