US To Probe Saudi & UAE’s Weapons Violation in Yemen

The US State Department and the Pentagon are reportedly sending teams to investigate the alleged breach of laws pertaining to the usage of American-made armored vehicles by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the Yemen conflict.

“The Department of State takes these allegations very seriously and is working closely with partner nations to determine whether there were any such unauthorized transfers”, Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs Mary Elizabeth Taylor wrote to Senator and presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren in a letter published on Tuesday.

The letter was sent to Warren in response to her query submitted to the State Department last month, writes Sputnik.

The allegations involve transfer of US-made Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles by the Saudi-led coalition, to the Yemeni militia. While MRAP inventories in the UAE have already reportedly been inspected, the ones in Saudi will be scrutinised in November.

Yemen has been locked in a conflict between the government forces led by President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and the Houthi rebels. A Saudi-led coalition has been conducting strikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request since March 2015.

This September, defenseworld.net observed Oshkosh military vehicles in a video released by Yemeni Houthis, buttressing the latter’s claim of destroying US-made vehicles owned by Riyadh, along the Saudi-Yemeni border.