by Zachary Lucas

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SANA’A, Yemen — Amnesty International has reported that British made cluster bombs were used by Saudi coalition forces in the current conflict in Yemen. The British government has denied that they are supplying Saudi Arabia with cluster munition and are seeking reassurances with the Saudi government that cluster munitions are not being used.

Field research by Amnesty in Sa’da, Hajjah, and Sana’a governorates led to the discovery of a partially exploded British manufactured BL-755 cluster bomb. According to Amnesty, the bomb had malfunctioned and scattered numerous unexploded “bomblets.” The cluster bomb was found near a farm in al-Khadhra village in the Hajjah governorate, close to the Saudi Arabian and Yemeni border.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond stated that there was no evidence that Saudi Arabia had used cluster munitions in the current conflict. Hammond, while responding to British Parliament, said that is illegal to supply cluster munitions under British law. The munition that was found was decades old and that Britain no longer supplied or manufactured the BL-755 cluster bombs. Hammond said that the cluster munition found was probably used in one of the the past conflicts in the region.

The Foreign Secretary stated that there will be an investigation into the report by Amnesty. The Saudi Arabian government in response said that cluster munitions are not being used nor have they been used in the conflict. The British government has said it will seek “fresh assurances” from Saudi Arabia that cluster munitions are not being used.

Saudi Arabia and its allies began a military campaign in Yemen in March 2015. The goal was to prevent Iran-allied Houthi rebels and forces loyal to the former Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, from seizing control of the country. The civil war in Yemen has also seen attacks from groups loyal to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

The BL-755 cluster bomb was original manufactured in the 1970s by Bedfordshire company Hunting Engineering Ltd. The bomb contains 147 bomblets that are designed to scatter on impact and explode. They are intended to be dropped out of British Tornado fighter jets to pierce tank armor.

Cluster munitions were banned under the Convention on Cluster Munitions signed in 2008 and effective in 2010. Over 100 countries have signed the convention including the United Kingdom, but not Saudi Arabia. Oliver Sprague, Amnesty International UK’s Arms Control Director, called cluster munitions one of the “nastiest weapons” used in warfare. The concern with cluster munitions is that not all of the bomblets explode on impact. Amnesty documented instances in Yemen where unexploded cluster munitions blew up after being picked up by children.

For more information, please see:

Amnesty International — Saudi Arabia-led coalition has used UK-manufactured cluster bombs in Yemen — 23 May 2016

BBC — UK seeks Saudi cluster bomb assurances over Yemen — 24 May 2016

Guardian — MoD to investigate claims Saudis used UK cluster bombs in Yemen — 24 May 2016

Reuters — Britain investigating reports its cluster bombs used in Yemen — 24 May 2016