Arkivbild. En saudisk soldat i Jemen. (Jon Gambrell / TT NYHETSBYRÅN/ NTB Scanpix)

Vapen från USA säljs till al-Qaida-kopplade grupper

Saudiarabien har sålt vidare vapen som landet köpt från USA till extremister kopplade till al-Qaida och andra grupper som deltar i kriget i Jemen. Det avslöjar CNN i ett grävande reportage.

Vapnen ska också ha hamnat i händerna på rebeller som stöttas av Iran, vilket kan ha tillhandahållit Teheran med känslig information om amerikansk militärteknik.

Saudiarabien och Förenade arabemiraten ska ha använt vapnen som ett sätt att köpa till sig lojalitet från milisgrupper och stärka vissa beväpnade grupper i kriget i Jemen, säger lokala befälhavare i landet och experter till CNN.

Agerandet bryter mot reglerna i ländernas vapenavtal med USA och amerikanska myndigheter bekräftar att man utreder frågan.

bakgrund
 
Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
Wikipedia (en)
The Yemeni Civil War is an ongoing conflict that began in 2015 between two factions: the internationally recognized Yemeni government, led by Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, and the Houthi armed movement, along with their supporters and allies. Both claim to constitute the official government of Yemen. Houthi forces controlling the capital Sana'a, and allied with forces loyal to the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, have clashed with forces loyal to the government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, based in Aden. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have also carried out attacks, with AQAP controlling swathes of territory in the hinterlands, and along stretches of the coast.On 21 March 2015, after taking over Sana'a and the Yemeni government, the Houthi-led Supreme Revolutionary Committee declared a general mobilization to overthrow Hadi and further their control by driving into southern provinces. The Houthi offensive, allied with military forces loyal to Saleh, began on the next day with fighting in Lahij Governorate. By 25 March, Lahij fell to the Houthis and they reached the outskirts of Aden, the seat of power for Hadi's government; Hadi fled the country the same day. Concurrently, a coalition led by Saudi Arabia launched military operations by using airstrikes to restore the former Yemeni government; the United States provided intelligence and logistical support for the campaign. According to the UN and other sources, from March 2015 to December 2017, 8,670–13,600 people have been killed in Yemen, including more than 5,200 civilians, as well as estimates of more than 50,000 dead as a result of an ongoing famine due to the war. The conflict has widely been seen as an extension of the Iran-Saudi Arabia proxy conflict and as a means to combat Iranian influence in the region. In 2018, the United Nations warned that 13 million Yemeni civilians face starvation in what it says could become "the worst famine in the world in 100 years."The international community have sharply condemned the Saudi Arabian-led bombing campaign, which has included widespread bombing of civilian areas. Despite this, however, the crisis has not gained as much international media attention as compared to the Syrian civil war until recently.
Omni är politiskt obundna och oberoende. Vi strävar efter att ge fler perspektiv på nyheterna. Har du frågor eller synpunkter kring vår rapportering? Kontakta redaktionen