British arms sales to Saudi Arabia have jumped by nearly 500 percent, according to a new report from the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), as the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led war on Yemen continues unabated.
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CAAT data shows that the U.K. has sent nearly US$6.2 billion in arms exports to the kingdom since the start of the war on Yemen in March 2015: a 457 percent increase compared to the period from January 2008 to April 2015, during which about US$7.8 billion dollars worth of weapons were exported.
The report comes in the wake of the U.S. and Saudi coalition forcing the closure of Yemen’s borders on Monday.
CAAT co-director Tom Barns told the Independent that the sales are of "equipment being used to commit atrocities in Yemen" as coalition airstrikes increase. "At a time when the U.K. should at least be putting more consideration into what's being sold, they are giving more and more of these licenses."
At least 10,000 Yemenis have so far been killed in the conflict, with 40,000 more wounded. A devastating cholera outbreak triggered by the war has left more than 70 percent of the population in need of emergency aid.
Among the weapons sold are the Brimstone, Storm Shadow, PGM 500 Hakim and Alarm missiles, as well as Raytheon’s Paveway IV bomb. The bomb was found at the scene of an airstrike in January 2016 that destroyed a number of aid and food stores, exacerbating the plight of Yemen's already starving population.
The coalition's move on Monday is likely to worsen a humanitarian crisis that, according to the United Nations, has pushed more than seven million Yemenis to the brink of famine and infected nearly 900,000 with cholera.
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Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has said the Saudi kingdom "bombs Yemen to smithereens, killing thousands of innocents including babies, spreads cholera and famine, but of course blames Iran.
"It is engaged in wars of aggression, regional bullying, destabilizing behavior and risky provocations. It blames Iran for the consequences."