by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Washington : Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners have transferred American-made weapons to Al Qaeda-linked fighters, Salafi militias and other factions waging war in Yemen, in violation of their agreements with the US, according to a CNN report.
The weapons have also made their way into the hands of Iranian-backed rebels battling the coalition for control of Yemen, exposing some of America’s sensitive military technology to Tehran and potentially endangering the lives of US troops in other conflict zones, the report based on an investigation said on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), its main partner in the war, have used the US-manufactured weapons as a form of currency to buy the loyalties of militias or tribes, bolster chosen armed actors, and influence the complex political landscape, according to local commanders on the ground and analysts who spoke to CNN.
By handing off this military equipment to third parties, the Saudi-led coalition is breaking the terms of its arms sales with the US, according to the Department of Defence.
In response to the CNN report, a US defence official confirmed that there was an ongoing investigation into the issue.
Previous CNN investigations had established that US-made weapons were used in a series of deadly Saudi coalition attacks that killed dozens of civilians, many of them children.
The Abu Abbas brigade, a militia group linked to the Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), possesses US-made Oshkosh armoured vehicles, which they had paraded in a 2015 show of force through the city.
Abu Abbas, the founder, was declared a terrorist by the US in 2017, but the group still enjoys support from the Saudi coalition and was absorbed into the coalition-supported 35th Brigade of the Yemeni Army.
In 2015, Riyadh launched the coalition to oust Iranian-supported Houthi rebels from Yemen’s capital city of Sanaa and reinstate the internationally recognised government of President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi.
The war split the country in two, and with it came the weapons — guns, anti-tank missiles, armoured vehicles, heat-seeking lasers and artillery, CNN said in the report.
Since then, some of America’s military equipment has been passed on, sold, stolen or abandoned in Yemen.
Arms markets are illegal in Yemen, but they still operate openly in the mountainous city of Hodeidah located in the country’s southwest.
To one side hang veils, abayas and colourful dresses for sale; to the other are pistols, hand grenades, and US assault rifles available on special order, according to the report.
The US is by far the biggest supplier of arms to both Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and its support is crucial to the Saudi-led coalition’s continuing war in Yemen.
US lawmakers are trying to pass a resolution ending the Trump administration’s support for the coalition.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, Entrepreneurship, News, Politics, Startup Basics
Bengaluru : Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday called upon startups to develop technologies and weapons for the Indian armed forces.
“We (Ministry of Defence) want you to provide Indian solutions to problems faced by the armed forces. By indigenisation, India doesn’t need to import many of the products that we do,” Sitharaman told startups in this tech hub.
“India wants its sectors disrupted through technological advancements,” she said at the launch of “Defence India Startup Challenge”, a national contest for startups to develop arms and technologies for the defence sector.
“Indigenisation has been a priority for India, however, we did not indigenise sufficiently enough,” the Minister added, addressing a gathering of 200 startups, incubators and defence officials at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Convention Centre in the city centre.
Through the contest, startups, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and individual researchers and academic institutions can take part in 11 different categories of creating technologies and products that can be used by the armed forces.
The 11 categories in which the startups and researchers can develop products or solutions include building see-through armour for the army, development of 4G-based tactical Local Area Network for the Navy, and laser weaponry and unmanned surface and underwater vehicles development for the Air Force, among others.
Select few startups will also receive a funding of up to Rs 1.5 crore through the Ministry for developing their ideas, and given access to test their products.
As part of the event, a Bengaluru-based firm Tonbo Imaging has been given an order to make night fire control system for Russian-made grenade launcher AGS-30.
“The Ministry will ensure the startups working on their ideas get the orders,” Sitharaman said.
Noting that unmanned drones with missiles are the envy of many countries, the Minister added it is not beyond India’s capacity to develop them.
The Defence Ministry, on the occasion, also tied up with five business incubators to promote and support the startups, including Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship with Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad; Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay; T-hub startup incubator in Hyderabad; ‘Forge’ incubator in Coimbatore; and IIT Madras.
“The contest is in line with the Innovations for Defence Excellence (IDEX) scheme announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier in April during Defence Expo in Chennai, to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in defence sector,” an official statement said.
The competition will also give a fillip to the country’s innovation potential and create networks for collaboration between defence sector and startups, it added.
Over 200 startups, 50 SMEs and 12 business incubators took part in the defence-business gathering.
—IANS
