Saudi coalition says UK-made cluster bombs used in Yemen

RIYADH —The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen on Monday said it had made “limited use” of British-made cluster bombs, a type of weapon which 100 countries have pledged not to use.

In its 21-month campaign against Shiite rebels who have seized much of Yemen, the Saudi-led alliance has faced repeated allegations of killing civilians.

It said it used the BL-755 cluster bombs “against legitimate military targets to defend Saudi towns and villages against continuous attacks” by the Houthi rebels.

The insurgents have killed more than 100 civilians and soldiers on the Saudi side of the border.

The coalition deployed the weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law, and not in civilian areas, it said, adding that Saudi Arabia no longer uses the BL-755.

London-based rights group Amnesty International in June alleged that “at least 16 civilians — including nine children — have been killed or injured by cluster submunitions between July 2015” and May of this year.

Amnesty said its findings came from the rebel stronghold of Saada as well as the Hajja area. Both are near the border with Saudi Arabia.

One hundred nations are party to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions which bans their use.

Britain is a party to the convention but Saudi Arabia, its coalition partners, and the United States are not.

In January, the coalition spokesman said alliance forces had used CBU-105 cluster bombs against rebel vehicles.

Cluster bombs contain multiple submunitions, which sometimes do not explode and become de facto landmines that can kill or maim long after being dropped.

Since fighting escalated last year, more than 7,000 people have been killed in Yemen, about half of them civilians.