US says it is not responsible for civilian deaths in Yemen
US military officials insisted Friday they bear no responsibility for civilian casualties in Yemen, where Washington is providing support to a Saudi-led coalition carrying out military strikes.
The US military provides intelligence and logistical information to the coalition led by Riyadh, which coordinates air strikes on rebels waging a civil war against the Yemeni government.
Human Rights groups say the United States bears responsibility for March 15 strikes on Yemen that killed 97 civilians, among them 25 children and infants.
A spokesman for US Central Command (Centcom) stressed that the Saudis are the ones who decide which targets to strike.
"The decisions on the conduct of operations to include the selections and final vettings of targets" are being made by the Saudi-led coalition, said Centcom spokesman Colonel Patrick Ryder.
"We are confident that the information that we relay and that the support we provide to Saudi Arabia is sound, and provide them with the best option for military success consistent with international norms and mitigating civilian casualties," Ryder said.
"The joint combined planning cell meet regularly with the Saudi military leadership and provide recommendations about being in compliance with the law of armed conflicts," Ryder said.
A ceasefire is set to go into effect Sunday in Yemen, where the conflict flared up a year ago. The ceasefire comes ahead of peace talks due to commence on April 18 in Kuwait.
Ryder said US military officials "have encouraged the Saudis to further investigate" the alleged bombings, as it does any time civilians are said to have been harmed.
Meanwhile, another US military official said Washington has "pushed the Saudis very hard on this issue."
"There certainly has been a steady drumbeat of concern expressed to the Saudi on this issue," said the official, who asked not to be identified.
"The things we are doing, providing intelligence and precision guided munitions, those are things that prevent civilian casualties," the officer said.
"Good intelligence begets fewer civilian casualties. Precision guided munitions beget fewer innocent civilian casualties."
More than 6,300 people have been killed in the year-long fighting in Yemen, with about half of the victims being civilians, according to the United Nations.