Bombs & Increase in Aid to Yemen, Made in USA

From Voice of America:

The US is increasing its humanitarian aid, $575 million, to four countries (Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria, and Yemen).

“With this new funding, the United States is providing emergency food and nutrition assistance, life-saving medical care, improved sanitation, emergency shelter, and protection for vulnerable groups who have been affected by conflict,” the agency said in a statement.

“The United States is also providing safe drinking water and supporting health and hygiene programs to treat and prevent disease outbreaks, including cholera, which has taken hold in all four countries,” it added.

Tens of millions of people are in need of assistance in these four countries as a result of “man-made crises,” according to the agency. The latest funding will bring the total of U.S. humanitarian assistance for these four crises to nearly $2.5 billion since the beginning of fiscal year 2017.

But it’s not just humanitarian aid that the US is giving to Yemen. The bomb used in the Saudi-led coalition airstrike on a residential area in Sana’a was made in the US.

From Amnesty International:

The bomb that destroyed a residential building in Yemen’s capital last month, killing 16 civilians and injuring 17 more – including five-year-old Buthaina whose photograph went viral in the aftermath of the strike – was made in the USA, Amnesty International reveals today.

Amnesty International’s arms expert analysed remnants of the weapon found it bore clear markings that matched US-made components commonly used in laser-guided air-dropped bombs.

The 25 August air strike hit a cluster of houses in Sana’a, severely damaging three of them, and killing seven children including all five of Buthaina’s brothers and sisters. Eight other children were injured, amongst them was two-year-old Sam Bassim al-Hamdani, who lost both his parents.

After examining photographic evidence provided by a local journalist who dug out the remaining fragments of the weapon at the site, Amnesty International’s arms expert was able to positively identify the data plate from a US-made MAU-169L/B computer control group. It is a part used in several types of laser-guided air-dropped bombs.

According to the Defence Security Cooperation Agency, in 2015 the US government authorized the sale of 2,800 guided bombs to Saudi Arabia that were equipped with the MAU-169L/B computer control group, including GBU-48, GBU-54, and GBU-56 guided bombs.

More on Buthaina.