HRW: Saudis Dropped US Cluster Bombs on Yemen

Even as Yemen said today that at least 20 Saudi-led troops were on the ground in the city of Aden, allegedly performing reconnaissance, Saudi Arabia's recently concluded bombing campaign against Houthi rebels there was taking a hit in the form of a critical Human Rights Watch report. As CNN reports, HRW is accusing the Saudis of dropping American-supplied cluster bombs—which are banned in 116 countries that are not the US, Saudi Arabia, or Yemen, and which the AP notes have been compared to land mines for their propensity to explode long after a conflict has ended.

As an HRW rep puts it, "Saudi-led cluster munition airstrikes have been hitting areas near villages, putting local people in danger. These weapons should never be used under any circumstances." The US has said it plans to stop shipping cluster bombs to nations that leave behind more than 1% of bombs unexploded, though not until 2018. The State Department hasn't yet commented on the report. Video from HRW is in the gallery. (More Yemen stories.)