Saturday, 28 May 2016

Al-Nusra Front in Syria Gets Daily Weapon Supplies from Turkey: Russian Military

Trucks Carrying Weapons For al-Nusra Front Arrive From Turkey Daily

Head of the Russian General Staff told journalists that trucks carrying weapons for the al-Nusra Front cross from Turkey into Syria daily. This allows the terrorist group to continue attacking local targets.
Lt. Gen. Sergey Rudskoy said in his press briefing on Friday that weapons and ammunition are continuously being delivered to the al-Nusra Front terrorists in Syria, allowing them to engage Syrian government forces and hindering the fight against Daesh in the country.
“The never-ending flow of large trucks from Turkey carrying weapons and ammunition crosses the Turkish-Syrian border. This constant feed of live forces and weapons allows terrorists from the Nusra Front to continue their provocative shelling and make advances on Syrian government forces, which diminishes [government military] activity against Islamic State terrorists in other areas,” Rudskoy said during a briefing.
Rudskoy also added that the US has acknowledged that the heaviest fighting is centered around areas where the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra Front is most active.
“Everyone knows, and our US partners admit that the biggest hot spots of active military operations are those parts of the Syrian Republic where the al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorists from the al-Nusra Front run rampant.”
So far, according to Rudskoy, the US has refused to conduct joint operations against terrorist groups in Syria, which has led to an escalation of the conflict.
The al-Nusra Front terrorist group hampers the ceasefire efforts in northern areas of Syria, the Russian General Staff said Friday.
“It is very clear that the terrorist group Jabhat al-Nusra, active in the regions of Aleppo and Idlib, is the main obstacle to expanding the ceasefire regime to northern areas of Syria,” Sergey Rudskoy, chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the Russian General Staff, said.
Moreover, the Al-Nusra Front has used the ‘period of silence’ to partly restore its combat capability. Rudskoy told reporters.
Earlier, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu offered to conduct joint air strikes against terrorist groups in Syria, but the Pentagon declined the offer. However, The Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry says Moscow hasn’t ruled out a possible joint operation in the future.

Local Editor
Turkey Flag on Weapons sent to Nusra FrontTerrorist group Al-Nusra Front is receiving daily arms shipments across the border from Turkey, the Russian General Staff says. The Al-Qaeda offshoot used the truce between government forces and moderate rebels in Syria to regroup and renew hostilities.
Al-Nusra Front remains a major destabilizing factor in Syria, Lt. Gen. Sergey Rudskoy told journalists on Friday.
“Damascus is being continuously shelled from Eastern Gouta. There were numerous attempts to capture power station near Homs and block the road connecting Aleppo and Damascus. The flow of trucks carrying weapons and ammunition from Turkey continues, with border crossings reported on daily basis,” he said.
The general added that Al-Nusra Front attacks are confirmed by other nations as well, and that they agree with Russia’s assessment of the negative impact of the militant group.
“It’s obvious that the terrorist group, which operates in Aleppo and Idleb provinces, is currently the biggest stumbling block for the process of expanding the truce to new territories in northern Syria,” Rudskoy said.
Al-Nusra Front benefited from the truce because some of the territories under its control are mixed with those, which were designated as held by so-called moderate rebel forces and which are excluded from Russian airstrike missions, he stressed.
In some areas Al-Nusra Front managed to take initiative, Rudskoy said. Three villages were captured by the terrorists from the government in the last few days while heavy fighting continues in the northern part of Aleppo city.
The Russian General Staff said that pressure exerted by Russia on armed groups in Syria continues to bear fruit. Over the last few days 17 armed groups, many of which were influenced by or pledged allegiance to Al-Nusra Front, agreed to join the truce. The general says that looming bombings of the terrorist forces, which Russia suggested to carry out together with the Americans, gave an incentive to the switch of sides.
Russia is assisting Syrian forces in their fight against terrorist groups and attempts to reconcile with rebels, who are willing to seek a peace transition. The effort is undermined by the fact that terrorist groups like ISIL and Al-Nusra Front are not part of the US and Russia-negotiated ceasefire and continue hostilities. Al-Nusra Front in particular regularly attacks both rebels and government forces in an apparent attempt to derail the truce.
Moscow wants to intensify airstrikes on Al-Nusra Front positions, but is putting them on hold due to the murky borders between the extremist group and militants, who are supposedly supporting the truce. Russia has asked the US to put pressure on the rebels, so that a clear distinction could be established between their territories and those of the terrorists.
“Our American partners are stalling the process of differentiation between the opposition groups under their control and the terrorist, which not only discredits the entire so-called moderate opposition, but also derails the peace process and leads to a renewal of hostilities in Syria,” Rudskoy warned.
Another problem comes from fringe Islamist groups like Ahrar Al-Sham and Jaysh al-Islam. Russia says neither is truly committed to the peace process and both have committed numerous atrocities. Moscow wants them acknowledged as terrorists and legitimate targets for airstrikes. The US opposes this, saying that both groups have the backing of Saudi Arabia and are represented at the UN-sponsored peace talks.
Source: Agencies
27-05-2016 – 21:26 Last updated 27-05-2016 – 21:26
Related Articles
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,

Trump Suggests USA Should Bomb Libya, the idiot doesn’t know that’s what caused the problem in the first place

Donald Trump on Friday suggested that the United States should bomb ISIS in Libya, a decision that would mark a serious escalation of the U.S. military campaign against the terrorist group. It’s also a new position for Trump, who has argued both in favor of and against military intervention in Libya over the past five years.
Claiming that ISIS controls oil fields in Libya, the presumptive Republican nominee questioned during a rally here why the United States isn’t “bombing the hell out of” ISIS in Libya.
“ISIS has the oil. And then you say if ISIS has the oil, why aren’t we blockading so they can’t sell it? Why aren’t we bombing the hell out of –” Trump said, stopping short as he pivoted to slamming President Barack Obama as “grossly incompetent.”
The U.S. has bombed ISIS in Libya, including a major strike on an ISIS camp back in February. The Pentagon recently acknowledged there is a “concept of operations” for Libya that includes continued airstrikes against ISIS targets when they can be located.
Trump has previously argued in favor of bombing oil fields in ISIS hands in Iraq — where the U.S. already has several thousand troops — but his remarks on Friday mark the first time the de facto Republican nominee has raised the possibility of a U.S. military campaign in another country.
Although Trump has emphasized a foreign policy of “America First” and railed against foreign entanglements, he has repeatedly said the U.S. needs to “knock out” ISIS.
And despite Trump’s claim, ISIS does not control oil fields in Libya, though supply lines have been disrupted by ISIS assaults in the North African country.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trump raised the possibility of another U.S. military intervention just as he slammed former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee, for arguing in favor of the 2011 NATO bombing campaign that ousted Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
“Her decision to go in — and this was her baby, Libya — was a disaster,” Trump said Friday.
Trump has repeatedly railed against the U.S. decision to strike Libya as part of a multinational campaign, which he has used to question Clinton’s judgment.
But Trump in 2011 also argued in favor of a military intervention in Libya.
“We should go in, we should stop this guy, which would be very easy and very quick. We could do it surgically, stop him from doing it, and save these lives,” Trump said in February 2011, a month before NATO launched its military intervention.

 River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,

Paedophilia and Tribal Loyalty


By Gilad Atzmon
The Holocaust Memorial Trust and the BOD have yet to disassociate themselves from Lord Janner and his alleged history of multiple child sex abuse.  Seems that tribal loyalty is so firmly entrenched that it far surpasses ethics or compassion.
Now there is yet another case of tribal loyalty that is inconsistent with British values and law.  This time a Jewish children’s summer camp is the chosen locale.
The Jewish Chronicle reports today the “owner of a (Jewish) children’s summer camp, who is accused of failing to act when naked images of three- and four-year-old girls were found on his business partner’s phone, has chosen not to give evidence.”
The prosecution claims that Tal Landsman, the owner of the Jewish camp, “willfully exposed children to harm by not immediately reporting his best friend Ben Lewis to the authorities.”
Landsman and Lewis were co-founders of LL Camps in Bushey, Hertfordshire. The camp was closed down in August 2015 after an employee who had seen the images reported Lewis to the police.
Demonstrating tribal loyalty, one Ilan Ben-Zion, a trainee clinical psychologist, described Mr. Landsman to the court as “extremely bright, vibrant, enthusiastic and determined”.
Tribal loyalty ended once the Goyim became involved. The JC reports: “the jury of seven men and five women had heard from a member staff, Sandra Vicente, that the sight of the images on Lewis’s phone had “polluted” her brain.”
Ms Vicente said Lewis had given her his phone and PIN so she could play music at a children’s party on 1 August last year. She said the images were also seen by two other workers, Mohammed Ramli and Shelby Silver.
That night she said she told Mr. Landsman what she had seen, but the prosecution claims he failed to act, and allowed his friend to continue at work.
Ms Vicente said the next day Lewis spoke to her at work. “He said: ‘There is something disgusting on my phone. I don’t know how it got there.” Three days later she reported Lewis to the police.
Prosecutor Ann Evans told the jury:
“You may think this is the height of irresponsibility and, as co-owner, his first duty in this situation should have been to the children, not the co-owner Ben Lewis…In an effort to protect his friend he did nothing about what he had heard, and allowed the parties and activities to keep running at the camp until eventually Ofsted moved in and closed the place down on August 6 last year.”
I guess that prosecutor Evans doesn’t really grasp what tribal loyalty is all about.
To learn more about paedophilia in the light of  tribal loyalty watch the following videos.
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Israel Returns Body of Abdel Fattah Al-Sharif After Holding It for Two Months

Posted on May 27, 2016
by 
photo sharif_zpsvp2foxu0.jpg
[ Ed. note – The body of Abdel Fattah al-Sharif, executed by an Israeli soldier on the Jewish holiday of Purim, was released on Friday by Israeli soldiers.
A video of Sharif’s execution, shot with a single bullet to the head as he lay unconscious on a Hebron street, went viral and resulted in the soldier’s arrest as well as widespread international condemnation. The killing took place on March 24. For the past two months and three days Sharif’s body has been kept by Israeli authorities, who refused to return it to his family.
Perhaps Matt Lee or some other enterprising journalist with access to US State Dept. briefings might one day give some thought to asking the following question:
 “How does the president or secretary of state view the Israeli practice of withholding Palestinian bodies from family members, in some cases for months, and then releasing them only at night and only under condition that burial take place immediately? Is this something that’s viewed as reasonable and civilized?”
So far as I know, the question has never been asked publicly, and it would be interesting seeing one of the hack press secretaries attempt either to justify the repugnant practice or else scramble to sidestep the question altogether. The more I think about it, the more the idea appeals to me. In fact, it’s a question which ought to be asked not only at the State Department, but of every member of Congress who accepts contributions from pro-Israel PACs and professes their undying love for the Zionist state. ]
***
HEBRON (Ma’an) — Israeli authorities on Friday evening released the body of Abd al-Fattah al-Sharif, the Palestinian whose brutal killing by an Israeli soldier in March was caught on film, sparking international outrage.The Palestinian Civil Affairs Committee said al-Sharif’s body was returned and taken to Hebron’s al-Ahli hospital.Al-Sharif’s family told Ma’an his funeral will be held on Saturday afternoon, and that they have rejected all Israeli authorities’ conditions for the release of his body.
Al-Sharif was shot alongside Ramzi Aziz al-Qasrawi after the two allegedly stabbed and moderately wounded an Israeli soldier at a military checkpoint in the Tel Rumeida area of Hebron on March 24.
Al-Qasrawi was killed immediately, while al-Sharif was left severely wounded for several minutes without treatment, before an Israeli soldier stepped forward and put a bullet through his head, killing him.
A graphic video released by B’Tselem capturing the incident was met with wide condemnation from rights groups and international bodies, with the UNdemanding an investigation into the soldier’s apparent “extrajudicial execution.”
A funeral was held for al-Qasrawi after his body was returned days after the incident, while Israeli authorities continued to hold al-Sharif, with his family demanding that a Palestinian coroner partake in the autopsy.
Israel’s top court subsequently refused the demand, though permitted a Palestinian doctor to observe the autopsy. The autopsy, performed by an Israeli coroner, confirmedal-Sharif was still alive before he was shot at point-blank range.
Following the autopsy, al-Sharif’s family said they would file legal procedures against the Israeli army in front of an Israeli court.Elor Azaria, the Israeli soldier who killed al-Sharif, was later charged with manslaughter rather than murder as had been widely expected. Azaria is being held on a military base in “open detention” where he is free to roam and has received visits from his family. Histrial opened earlier this month.
Israeli Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan announced on Tuesday that he had ordered Israeli police to suspend the return of bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces, after seeing footage of a crowd gathering outside the funeral of one such slain Palestinian, chanting “God is Great,” something Erdan deemed as “incitement.”
However earlier on Friday, and in spite of the order, Israeli authorities alsoreturned the body of a 17-year-old Palestinian girl shot dead by Israeli forces during an alleged stab attack on Monday. A spokesperson for the Israeli ministry of public security was not available for immediate comment on reasons for Mansour’s and al-Sharif’s bodies being returned during the suspension, or if the suspension had been removed.
Israel dramatically increased its policy of withholding bodies since the beginning of a wave of unrest across the occupied Palestinian territory since October, although it has scaled back on the policy in recent months.
A joint statement released in early April by Addameer and the Israeli minority rights group Adalah condemned Israel’s practice of withholding bodies as “a severe violation of international humanitarian law as well as international human rights law, including violations of the right to dignity, freedom of religion, and the right to practice culture.”
The statement said it appeared “many” of the Palestinians whose bodies Israel was holding had been “extrajudicially executed by Israeli forces during alleged attacks against Israelis, despite posing no danger.”
Israel currently holds the bodies of at least a dozen Palestinians, killed by Israeli forces since October while they were allegedly committing or attempting to commit attacks.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Marines and heavy military equipment deployed by U.S. in North-East Syria ~ [Eng-Esp]

zionistan-960x260

The U.S. government [after years of inactivity, except the material and logistic support to the terrorist gangs who are fighting in Iraq & Syria], now that the Russian Air Force, the Syrian Army and its allies are at the gates of Raqqa, shows off the muscles to support some of the Kurdish factions to consolidate a territorial division of the future Syria…already planned a long time ago…
(SFP-WP Newsroom)
infantes de marina de EEUU0

U.S. marines and heavy military equipment
deployed in North-East Syria

These forces would support the Kurdish militias in the offensive to liberate the city of Raqqa from the hands of Daesh (so called ISIS, ISIL, Islamic State…).

Some 250 US Marines have come to the Syrian town of Hasaka, northwest of the country, reports the television channel Al Arabiya.

According to available information, the transfer of military personnel took place in several private transport planes. In addition to the Marines, the Pentagon has also moved to that location heavy military equipment.

These forces would be directed to the town of Tal Abyad, Raqqa province where the Kurdish militias have launched an offensive against Daesh in the provincial capital of the Raqqa governorate.

On May 20 (2016), General Joseph L. Votel, commander of U.S. Central Command, arrived on an unannounced visit to Syria to plan the operation for the release of Raqqa from the hands of terrorists.

Meanwhile, Daesh has begun to deploy additional weaponry and forces in that city, de facto capital of the jihadist organization.

zionistkurdish-large-1

(ESP)

EE.UU. despliega marines y equipo militar pesado en Siria

(Actualidad) ~ Estas fuerzas apoyarían a las milicias kurdas en la ofensiva para liberar la ciudad de Raqqa de manos del Estado Islámico.
Unos 250 infantes de marina de EE.UU. han llegado a la ciudad siria de Hasaka, noroeste del país, informa el canal de televisión Al Arabiya.
Según la información disponible, el traslado del personal militar se llevó a cabo en varios aviones privados de transporte. Además de los marines, el Pentágono también ha desplazado a esa localidad equipo militar pesado.
Estas fuerzas se dirigirían a la localidad de Tal Abyad, provincia de Raqqa, donde las milicias kurdas han iniciado una ofensiva contra el Estado Islámico en la capital de esa gobernación, Raqqa.
El pasado 20 de mayo, el general Joseph L. Votel, comandante del Mando Central de EE.UU., llegó en una visita inesperada a Siria para planificar la operación para la liberación de Raqqa de manos de los terroristas.
Por su parte, el EI ha comenzado a desplegar armamento y fuerzas adicionales en esa localidad, capital de facto de la organización yihadista.
kurds-rats
SOURCES:
Actualidad
Submitted by al-Jatabí
Translated from Spanish by SyrianPatriots 
War Press Info Network at:
https://syrianfreepress.wordpress.com/2016/05/26/usa-marines-in-syria/
~

Related Videos
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Syria Denies Reports on Receiving Draft Constitution Proposal

SyriaThe official Facebook page for the Presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic dismissed as untrue the talks and news on drafts of a new constitution proposed to Syria.
The official page said that during the past two days, it received many questions regarding what has been circulated by some media outlets on drafts of a new constitution to Syria, which were proposed to Damascus in addition to the talk about Syrian amendments on this constitution.
”In this context and to avoid any confusion, we are concerned to affirm that no draft of a new constitution has been proposed to the Syrian Arab Republic and all what has been circulated by media outlets on this issue is completely untrue,” the page said.
It added that any new constitution to Syria in the future will not be proposed by outside the country but rather it will be absolutely a Syrian, with only the Syrian people discussing and agreeing on it as to be put to referendum and any other talk is “useless and meaningless.”
Source: Agencies
27-05-2016 – 17:08 Last updated 27-05-2016 – 17:08
Related Articles
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,

No Prospects for Peace in Syria

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2016

Obama’s war continues, hundreds of US special forces and marines involved in combat, directly aiding terrorists in northern Syria.
Claiming they’re advising and assisting (nonexistent) moderate rebels is pure rubbish. Obama wants Assad forcibly ousted before he leaves office. Maybe he intends US-led NATO bombing.
Peace talks begun in early February were dead on arrival, now indefinitely suspended. On Thursday, pro-Western UN special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, told Security Council members during a closed session that progress toward so far unattainable ceasefire must be achieved before resuming them.
Talks can accomplish nothing without “credible…cessation of hostilities improvement and stabilization,” he said. Peace is unattainable because Syria has no legitimate partner.
Washington and its rogue allies want war, Assad toppled and Syrian sovereign independence destroyed.
At a Thursday Persian Gulf Cooperation Council ministerial meeting in Moscow, Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubier “disagree(d) with the position of Russia on the issue of members of the delegation at the Syrian (peace) talks.”
He claimed US/Riyadh cobbled together High Negotiations Committee members (composed entirely of terrorists or terrorist related groups) are the “only legitimate representative(s) of the Syrian people.”
They profoundly disagree, overwhelmingly expressing support for Assad and his government. Lavrov insists “the fate of Syria should only be determined by (its) people,” free from foreign interference.
Syria is one of numerous US war theaters, part of its rage for world conquest and dominance. 
Reckless brinksmanship with Russia and China could cross a rubicon of no return.
Will America’s next president launch WW III? Be terrified if it’s Hillary Clinton, a neocon, power-crazed lunatic, the most recklessly dangerous presidential aspirant in US history.
Her agenda represents pure evil. Her finger on the nuclear trigger should scare everyone.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.
posted by Steve Lendman @ 3:59 AM
PREVIOUS POSTS
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Leaked Files Reveal ISIS Leader Responsible for Recruiting, Smuggling Terrorists into Syria


 Leaked ISIS files have revealed the terrorist  group’s so-called “borders chief”, a senior leader responsible for recruiting thousands of foreign extremists (jihadists) and funneling them into Syria.
Tarad Mohamed al-Jaraba, a 37-year-old Iraqi national who uses the nom de guerre Abu Mohamed al-Shimali, facilitated the entry of more than 6,000 terrorists over two years, the “Daily Telegraph” reported on Thurday.

A third of the 18,000 foreign terrorists who joined the group between 2013 and 2015 put Jaraba down as a “mediator” on their entrance forms, which were leaked to the terrorist organizations-run newspaper “Zaman al-Wasl” and shared with the Telegraph.
He is understood to have helped several of the Paris bombers get into and then out of Syria to carry out their deadly attacks, killing 130.
Jaraba, who also holds Saudi Arabian citizenship, is already known to the US state department, which offered a reward of $5 million (£3.3 million) for information on the whereabouts earlier this year.
However, the documents reveal the immense scale of his operation and his unrivalled recruiting power.
Jaraba is believed to have become close to the group’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi during their time in Iraq. He joined al-Qaeda in 2005, later switching to so-called “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS).
The documents show that most of the crossings under his watch were made through Azaz and Jarablus, border towns where the terror group have heavy presence.
Tens of thousands of terrorists poured through Turkey’s border with Syria until Ankara allegedly introduced stricter border measures earlier this year following international pressure.
However, a newly released ISIS guidebook shows how the terrorist group has adapted by changing how it brings new recruits from Turkey into Syria.
Until recently, all an ISIS wannabe had to do to cross into Syria was dress casually and not look religious, the guidebook said.
ISIS contacts now meet new recruits in hotels in Istanbul and travel with them to the southern Turkish town of Sanliurfa, where they cross into ISIS-controlled Tel Abyad. The route is used because it is closer to Raqqa.
The Turkish regime was proved to have been supporting “Jabhat al-Nusra” terrorist organization in Syria by arms and extremist fighters over the past years.
H.M
Related Articles
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!
Posted by at 1 comment:
Labels: , , , , , ,

‘US halts sending cluster bombs to Saudi’, but the USA says one thing and does another

The United States has reportedly suspended the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia amid growing concerns that the kingdom has used the weapons in its bombing campaign in Yemen, a report says.
The move follows rising criticism by members of Congress of Washington’s support for its ally in the year-long aggression, which has killed more than 9,400 people.
The White House has sold weapons and provided training, targeting information, and logistical support to Saudi Arabia since the bombing campaign began on March 26, 2015 in a bid to restore power to former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh.
Washington has also sold Riyadh millions of dollars’ worth of internationally-banned cluster bombs in recent years.
“We take such concerns seriously and are seeking additional information,” a senior US official told the Foreign Policy magazine on condition of anonymity.
The official cited reports that the Saudi-led coalition has used cluster bombs “in areas in which civilians are alleged to have been present or in the vicinity.”
Yemeni children inspect the rubble following an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition on May 31, 2015. (AFP photo)
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have found evidence that CBU-105 cluster bombs, manufactured by the US-based company Textron Systems, have been dropped on multiple locations around Yemen.
Officials said the hold applies to CBU-105 munitions.
Cluster bombs contain bomblets that spread out widely and kill and injure civilians indiscriminately. The bomblets sometimes fail to explode upon impact and can kill civilians months or even years later.
A 2009 US law prohibits export of cluster bombs with a failure rate of above 1 percent. It also stipulates that the munitions cannot be used “where civilians are known to be present.”
Amnesty International said last week that its most recent mission to Yemen has found evidence of US, UK and Brazilian cluster munitions used by Saudi forces.
The UK-based rights group said unexploded cluster bombs have turned northern Yemen into “minefields” for civilians.
The watchdog said displaced families, who are returning to their homes since a ceasefire was agreed in March, are at “grave risk” of “serious injury or even death.”
“Any step toward ending the production and sale of cluster bomb munitions by the United States government is a good thing, but much much more needs to be done,” Sunjeev Bery, advocacy director at Amnesty International, told Foreign Policy.
He said the rights organization pushed, unsuccessfully, to block a $1.3 million sale of smart bombs to Saudi Arabia which the US government approved late last year.
Related
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)