(Hani Mohammed, AP)The British government's arms sales to Saudi Arabia are unlawful, the United Kingdom's all-party committee of the House of Lords has concluded in a report. It said that these weapons are likely to be the cause of civilian casualties in the war-torn country, where Saudi Arabia, along with its allies, has been carrying out air raids against the Houthi rebels since March 2015. The publication is the first from a parliamentary committee that has described the arms sales to Saudi Arabia as unlawful - and has said that ministers are not making independent checks to see if British arms being used are in breach of the law. "The government asserts that, in its licensing of arms sales to Saudi Arabia, it is narrowly on the right side of international humanitarian law. The war has resulted in a collapsed economy and a cholera outbreak that has affected more than 1.1 million people.

Source: News 24 February 16, 2019 17:26 UTC