US expedites arms shipments to coalition bombing Yemen
RIYADH/ADEN - The United States is speeding up arms supplies and bolstering intelligence sharing with a Saudi-led alliance bombing a militia aligned with Iran in neighboring Yemen, a senior US diplomat said on Tuesday.
US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US, a key ally of oil-rich Saudi Arabia, had also set up a coordination centre in the Sunni Muslim kingdom, whose forces have led an air campaign against the Shi'ite Houthi group which rules most of Yemen.
"Saudi Arabia is sending a strong message to the Houthis and their allies that they cannot overrun Yemen by force," he told reporters in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
"As part of that effort, we have expedited weapons deliveries, we have increased our intelligence sharing, and we have established a joint coordination planning cell in the Saudi operation centre," Blinken added.
