Official figures reveal that the British government approved arms sales worth 368 million dollars to Saudi Arabia in the six months after a deadly Saudi air raid on a funeral in Yemen.
According to data from Campaign against Arms Trade, the purchase included combat aircraft, missiles as well as bombs. Following the attack, UK Trade Secretary Liam Fox delayed signing a set of export licenses and the ministry officials were set to suspend sales to Saudi Arabia. However, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson reportedly advised Fox that the sales should continue.
The airstrike on October 8, 2016 hit a funeral hall in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, killing 140 people including dozens of women and children and injuring hundreds more. Riyadh is the UK’s most important weapons client. The Saudi war on Yemen has so far left over 12,500 people, mostly civilians, dead.
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