Munitions Experts Claim Bomb That Killed 40 School Children In Yemen Was Supplied By The US

According to munitions experts, the bomb that was used by the Saudi-led coalition to attack a school bus in Yemen on Thursday, August 9, had been supplied by the US. The blast killed a total of 51 people, among them 40 children, and left 79 others wounded.

A CNN report claims that the bomb in question was sold as part of a US State Department-sanctioned arms deal with Saudi Arabia. The munitions experts have found that the weapon was a 500-pound (227 kilograms) laser-guided MK 82 bomb. Its CAGE code (94271) identified Lockheed Martin, one of the top US defense contractors, as its maker.

The Saudi air raid on Sa’ada sparked outrage from international human rights groups and UN officials as it hit a school bus that was driving through a market in the town of Dhahyan. The bomb used for the attack is very similar to the one that killed around 155 people and injured 525 others in a funeral hall in Yemen in October 2016.

The Saudi coalition took responsibility for the incident admitting that it was a mistake and blamed incorrect information for the strike.

Notably, when it came to light that the precision-guided MK 84 bomb that used to attack a Yemeni market in March 2016 was supplied by the US, former US President Barack Obama ceased and banned the sale of precision-guided military technology to Saudi Arabia over human rights concerns. However, the US administration under President Donald Trump overturned the ban in March 2017.

Now that the US-backed Saudi-led coalition’s strike on the school bus is under investigation, the big question is whether or not the US bears any moral accountability for the attack.

In its defense, the US has claimed while it supports the coalition’s operations financially, it does not make targeting decisions.

“I will tell you that we do help them plan what we call, kind of targeting,” said US Secretary of Defense James Mattis. “We do not do dynamic targeting for them.”