Amid war-crisis in Yemen, Spain cancels 400 laser-guided bombs deal with Saudi Arabia

Madrid, September 6: Taking cognizance of the current situation in war-torn Yemen, Spain has cancelled sales of laser-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia.

 

Notably, Spain’s defence ministry has confirmed the cancelling of sales of a contract with Saudi Arabia for 400 laser-guided bombs while declining to give any further details. On the other side, there was no immediate response from Saudi authorities.

The development comes at least a month after the defence ministry of Spain said it had never sold arms that could be used against a civilian population while condemning the killing of non-combatants Yemen. The defence ministry of Spain further added that it would review any possible sales that had not yet been closed and could be involved in attacks on civilians.

Earlier, in the year 2015, Spain signed a contract with Riyadh for 400 bombs in 2015. But it will now back out of the deal and return the $10m (£7.8m) they have already received. In April this year, Spain signed a framework agreement to sell warships to Saudi Arabia in a deal estimated to be worth around €1.8bn (£1.6bn).

Various human rights groups including United Nations have blamed West saying that the western arms sales to Saudi Arabia and its allies in a war which has claimed the lives of more than 10,000 people and left 8.4 million on the brink of famine.