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The United States will no longer replenish Saudi planes carrying out strike missions in Yemen, US and Saudi officials said Friday.
This operation is expected to have minimal impact on the Saudi effort as the United States provided fuel for only about 20 percent of Saudi airplanes.
The Saudi coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen on Friday issued a statement in which it confirmed the decision, saying that the cessation of air refueling had been carried out at the request of the coalition because of the improvement of its own capabilities. refueling.
"Recently, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the coalition have increased their ability to independently carry out air refueling in Yemen. As a result, in consultation with the United States, the Coalition called for the cessation of air-to-air refueling assistance for its operations in Yemen, "the statement said.
Defense Secretary James Mattis also confirmed the decision in a statement released later Friday.
"We support the decision of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, after consultations with the US Government, to use the coalition's own military capabilities to conduct air-to-air refueling in support of its operations in the United States. Yemen, "said Mattis.
He said that the United States and the Saudis were "focused on supporting conflict resolution, led by UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths" and that "the United States and the Coalition are considering collaborate in the establishment of legitimate Yemeni forces to defend the Yemeni people, secure the borders of their country and help thwart the efforts of al Qaeda and the Islamic State in Yemen and the region . "
Although refueling is not yet complete, the Pentagon and the Saudis will announce their cancellation to avoid pending laws, a diplomatic source told CNN.
The Washington Post was the first to report the plan to stop air-to-air refueling.
The Trump administration has been criticized by humanitarian groups and some members of Congress for supporting the Saudi coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen and for the administration's recent findings that the coalition would do enough to avoid civilian casualties.
In addition to air-to-air refueling, the US military provides the Saudi coalition with training to reduce civilian casualties, as well as intelligence services to guard against Houthi cross-border missile and drone attacks.
Mattis confirmed in his statement that these support activities would continue, saying the United States "will continue to work with the Coalition and Yemen to minimize civilian casualties and expand urgent humanitarian efforts throughout the country. ".
Last month, Mattis said the goal of the training was to "allow the Houthi fighting forces to reach a level of capability equivalent to that of not killing innocent people."
But many congressional Democrats are seeking to reduce US support for the Saudi-led coalition and Democrats in the House have introduced a bill that would put an end to this aid.
A Democratic assistant in the Chamber of Deputies told CNN that, although they were optimistic, the bill would be adopted in the lame duck session, but the fact that Democrats took control of the House during mid-term elections has reinforced the chances that it will be adopted soon.
The bill is co-sponsored by Democrats who, according to the representative of Parliament, the Armed Forces Committee of the House of Representatives and Representative Eliot Engel, of the Committee on External Relations, will presumably preside over the chairmanship of committees at the next Congress.
The bill would have no impact on US military activities aimed at countering affiliates in Yemen from ISIS and al-Qaeda.
One of the drafters of this bill expressed support for the decision to end the refueling of Saudi warplanes in flight, calling it a "major victory".
"Congress has won a major victory in convincing the administration to stop the US refueling in the Saudi-led war in Yemen," Democratic representative Ro Khanna told CNN in a statement.
Khanna, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, added that Congress should "commemorate and confirm the decision" by passing the bill "to ensure that any US involvement is closed and that recover the authority of Congress ".
A US official told CNN on Friday that the Trump government was weighing, designating Iran-backed Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization, a label applied to groups like al-Qaeda and Hezbollah.
The Democratic deputy said the Trump government's public criticism of the Houthis and its review of the foreign terrorist organization's designation were likely part of an effort to strengthen public support for US aid to the Saudi-led coalition.
He also said that the recent murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul had also pushed some members of Congress to adopt a tougher stance towards Saudi Arabia.
But in his remarks last month, Mattis sought to dissociate Khashoggi's killing of US support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, an event he again condemned, saying the two issues are "separate" ".
The news of the planned reduction in aid to Saudi Arabia was announced the same day that their opponents to the Yemeni rebel war, the Houthi rebels, fired an anti-ship missile at the Red Sea , according to several defense officials. On that day, the Houthi leader rejected the Trump administration's proposal for a ceasefire to end the civil war.
The missile was fired from Hodeidah, the last Houthi-controlled port, which is the scene of fierce fighting between the Houthis and forces of the Saudi-led international coalition, allied with the internationally renowned Yemeni government. Another official said the missile came from a hidden position inside a vehicle, highlighting the difficulty of targeting.
The United States thinks the Houthis are receiving a lot of their missiles from their ally Iran, although the rebels have also captured stocks that belonged to the Yemeni government.
A US defense official told CNN that the target of the missile was unclear, but that there was a Saudi-flagged tanker 50 miles off the coast of Hodeidah when fired, this ship would not have been touched. The Red Sea is home to many shipments, including oil and gas.
Fighting in Hodeida and surrounding areas has raised fears that humanitarian aid flow into Houthi-controlled areas may be interrupted and the UN has warned that millions of Yemenis are at risk of starvation if this help was cut off.
Late last month, Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition to adopt a ceasefire within 30 days, asking the Houthis to stop their missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as against the Saudi army. Israel-led coalition to end air strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.
However, Houthi leader Mohammed Ali al-Houthi appeared to reject the terms of the US proposal on Friday, saying recent US statements on a ceasefire were "an attempt to mislead the world."
"The United States has the weight to end the conflict – but they have decided to protect a corrupt ally," al-Houthi wrote in an editorial in the Washington Post, released on Friday.
He accused the United States of "participating in and sometimes aggression in Yemen" and rejected US conditions for a ceasefire that would begin with the halting of Houthi attacks.
"We are ready to stop the missiles if the Saudi-led coalition stops its air strikes," he wrote.
