In Yemen, civilian casualties from the Saudi-led airstrikes were highest in the early years of the war. They began rising again a half-year ago, but have declined during a cease-fire that began in early April and was extended last Thursday.
The strikes have hit hospitals, schools, buses and a funeral hall, among other sites. On Jan. 21, an airstrike on a prison run by the Houthis killed at least 70 people and injured dozens of others, according to Houthi officials and international aid groups.
More than 150,000 people have been killed in the war, including nearly 15,000 civilians, according to an estimate by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project. The conflict has resulted in what the United Nations has called the worst man-made humanitarian crisis.
Understand the War in Yemen
A divided country. A Saudi-led coalition has been fighting in Yemen against the Houthis, a Shiite Muslim rebel group that dominates in northern parts of the country, for years. Here’s what to know about the conflict:
In February 2021, Mr. Biden said in a speech at the State Department that he would end all American support for “offensive operations” in Yemen, including “relevant arms sales.” He and other American officials have not said publicly what that entails. For now, new sales of air-to-ground projectiles have been suspended, officials say.
The Washington Post recently published an investigative report on how a substantial number of air raids in Yemen have been carried out by jets developed, maintained and sold by U.S. companies and by pilots trained by the U.S. military.
“It’s hard to say definitively that the U.S. is not supporting the offensive campaign there,” said Dalia Dassa Kaye, a Middle East expert at the Burkle Center for International Relations at the University of California at Los Angeles. “That remains a concern.”
“A lot of ammunition, supplies, things in the pipeline are still continuing,” she added.
Bombs made by Raytheon have been among the deadliest weapons used by the Saudi-led coalition in the airstrikes that have killed civilians. The State Department approved the sales of the munitions, which puts agency officials at risk of prosecution for war crimes, according to an internal legal memo from 2016.
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