UK accused of 'fuelling' Yemen war as Saudi jets receive British support

UK accused of 'fuelling' Yemen war as Saudi jets receive British support Areeb Ullah on Tue, 09/29/2026 - 11:53 Academics and civil society groups warn British military assistance to Riyadh risks complicity in further violations as fighting escalates Wreckage of what Yemen's Houthi rebels said was a downed Saudi drone in Al-Jawf governorate, Yemen, 26 July 2026 (Ansarullah Media Center/AFP) Off The UK government faces calls to halt military support for Saudi Arabia as fighting escalates in Yemen, with academics and civil society organisations warning that British refuelling for Saudi fighter jets could make it complicit in further violations of international law. In an open letter addressed to Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, the signatories said they were “deeply concerned” about the decision to refuel Royal Saudi Air Force aircraft as hostilities escalate in and around Yemen. “There is a real risk that further UK military support for Saudi Arabia will not achieve the desired outcome and could make the UK complicit in further war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law,” they wrote. The Campaign Against Arms Trade, Action on Armed Violence, Shadow World Investigations UK and the Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation signed the letter alongside academics and specialists in international relations, human rights and international law. The signatories highlighted longstanding British support for Saudi military action in Yemen, which began in 2015 and initially involved a coalition of Arab states. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The Yemen Data Project recorded 25,054 Saudi-led coalition air raids between 2015 and 2022, according to figures cited in the letter. The organisations said extensive evidence showed that the air campaign attacked civilians and civilian infrastructure. The war also combined an air and sea blockade with economic collapse and ground fi