For the first time, the Federal Government has admitted that Eurofighter and Tornados are used in the Yemen War. According to research by NDR, WDR and „Süddeutsche Zeitung“, last week in a secretly classified meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Bundestag, it became known that the Federal Government has its own intelligence on the use of combat aircraft in Yemen.
According to this, Saudi Arabia used both tornadoes and Eurofighters in the war against rebels in Yemen. Both fighter aircraft are developed and built by Germany in cooperation with other countries such as Great Britain and Italy.
Federal Government does not comment
The federal government does not want to comment on the process publicly. One speaks on this topic „basically only to the competent, secretive committees of the German Bundestag,“ as a spokeswoman on request tells.
Organizations such as „Amnesty International“ or media research, such as „Report Munich“ and „Stern“, had long pointed out that Eurofighter and Tornado in Yemen air strikes. The Federal Government had hitherto, however, always asserted that it had no indications of such operations. In February, Minister of Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier (CDU) stressed that he had „no knowledge“ that German armaments technology would be used in Yemen.
Coalition Agreement Excludes Arms Exports
The war in Yemen is, according to the United Nations, the worst humanitarian crisis of our time. According to UNICEF, hundreds of schools were destroyed by fighter planes and thousands of children were killed in the war.
When the Federal Government of CDU / CSU and SPD concluded its coalition agreement in March 2018, it pledged: „From now on, we will not authorize exports to countries as long as they are directly involved in the Yemen war.“ Saudi Arabia is leading an alliance of nine states in Yemen, which is supporting the local government against insurgent Houthi rebels. The rebels are supported by Iran.
In the war that has been going on for years, there are always bombardments by fighter jets. Amnesty International has accused the Saudi-led alliance of war crimes and human rights violations in the past. In addition, Amnesty criticizes the United Arab Emirates for handing Western arms over to militias during the Yemen War.
