Mattis: The U.S. is Determined to Reduce Civilian Casualties in the Yemen War

On Friday, January 8, U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis announced that the United States is determined to take actions to reduce civilian casualties in the war between Saudi Arabia and its allies against Houthi rebels in Yemen. According to the Associated Press, Mattis spoke about training Saudi pilots to distinguish military targets from civilians in the Yemen conflict. These remarks came just one day after a United Nations report stated that over 100 civilians had been killed in Yemen within 10 days due to airstrikes. Mattis said, "We want to train them on how to identify targets and improve their capabilities in this regard. We will continue to work with their pilots and explain how they can strike targets and so forth." He added, "We will do everything we can to limit civilian casualties... We are trying to enhance the capabilities of Saudi forces to carry out their missions without innocent people being killed in the process." At the same time, Mattis criticized the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, accusing them of storing weapons in civilian areas, indicating that the rebels do not care about civilian safety. On Thursday, the UN humanitarian representative in Yemen announced that Saudi-led airstrikes in the past 10 days had resulted in the deaths of 109 civilians, including 14 members of one family in an airstrike on a farm. This report prompted Saudi Arabia to protest, claiming it was biased in favor of the Houthi rebels and called for the UN to reconsider its humanitarian operations and the forces it employs in this regard. The Saudi-led military coalition supports the government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, which is internationally recognized as Yemen's legitimate government. This coalition has been conducting a campaign against the Houthi rebels, who control the capital of Yemen, for about three years. The number of casualties in this war is estimated to exceed 10,000.