US House votes to end American involvement in Yemen's civil war

Washington, April 5: The US House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill to end US support for the Saudi-UAE war in Yemen, sending US President Donald Trump another rebuke over his support for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

 

The measure, passed in a 247-175 vote, now goes to Trump, but the White House has signalled that the president is likely to veto the bill.

Passage of the resolution, approved previously by the US Senate, marks the first time the United States Congress has acted under the War Powers Act of 1973, a Vietnam War-era law introduced to curtail a US president's deployment of US military forces without congressional approval.

Since 2015, the US has provided aerial refuelling of jets, reconnaissance, targeting and intelligence information to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in their campaign against the Houthi rebels who unseated the Saudi-backed government in Yemen. Saudi Arabia and a coalition of Arab governments have launched more than 19,000 air raids across Yemen.

Air raids by the Saudi-UAE coalition have hit civilians, hospitals and water treatment facilities. Aid groups estimate as many as 60,000 civilians have been killed in the war and as many as 85,000 children starved to death, with millions more "one step away from famine".