UAE to Buy Guided Bomb Units Worth $130mln from US

The bomb units will be accompanied by associated equipment and parts, along with technical and logistical support, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced.

The proposed sale of GBUs and other equipment is expected to provide UAE with additional munitions capability to better counter the threat posed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group, International Business Times reported the DSCA as saying.

The UAE is also part of a Saudi-led coalition, which has been conducting airstrikes against Yemen since late March.

The US State Department recently approved a proposed $1.9 billion deal, allowing Saudi Arabia to purchase 10 Sikorsky MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopters. The deal also included 380 Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System rockets as well as missiles, radar, navigation systems and other targeting equipment.

On March 26, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies began to launch deadly air strikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement in an attempt to restore power to the fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.

According to Yemen's Freedom House Foundation, the Saudi airstrikes have claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 Yemeni people so far while more than 7,000 others have been wounded, most of them civilians.

Meantime, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) revealed that 2,453 civilians have been injured, among whom 130 were women and 234 children.

Also, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has launched an 84 million US dollars appeal to address some of the prevalent humanitarian issues, which have been compounded by a resumption of violence since the humanitarian pause ended on May 17.

According to IOM, over 550,000 people have now been displaced by the conflict, with large numbers heading toward the Horn of Africa.