UK defence minister admits that training of Saudi Typhoon pilots is continuing despite Riyadh using these British-made jets to conduct airstrikes in Yemen, a country on the brink of famine.
Military
Government apologises to Declassified UK as defence minister orders independent review into blacklisting
In an unprecedented move, the UK Ministry of Defence has apologised to Declassified UK while Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said he is treating the apparent blacklisting of one of Britain’s leading investigative outlets with “utmost seriousness”.
Revealed: Censored videos show Saudi pilots bombing Britain
The UK’s Royal Air Force is refusing to release video footage that shows fighter pilots from Saudi Arabia conducting air attacks in Britain, as part of a controversial military training scheme which involves 25 civilian airports.
Ministry of Defence blacklists British journalists who report on UK military
The British Ministry of Defence has blacklisted Declassified UK, a media organisation producing in-depth, critical journalism on UK foreign and security policies. It is the latest attempt by Whitehall to censor the media and the National Union of Journalists has called on Defence Secretary Ben Wallace to “intervene”.
Military police probe British soldier over Yemen war protest
A serving British soldier is being investigated by the Royal Military Police for protesting against arms sales to Saudi Arabia. He accuses the government of having ‘blood on their hands’ and says: ‘I’d rather sleep peacefully in a cell than stay silent for a paycheck.’
Revealed: How the British military supplies ‘mercenary’ forces to a Gulf dictatorship
Britain has 91 troops ‘on loan’ to Oman, where serving UK military pilots are flying Omani fighter jets, helicopters and military transport planes under a secretive scheme designed to bolster the repressive monarchy, Declassified UK can reveal.
‘Paralysing a nation’: Evidence emerges of Royal Navy’s complicity in Saudi-led sea blockade of Yemen
The Saudi-led coalition has received British training on naval tactics that could be used for blockading Yemen, an embargo which UN experts have described as ‘unlawful’. Amnesty International says the new information is ‘deeply concerning’.
Hundreds of Saudi and Gulf military personnel trained in Britain as Yemen war continues
New data shows Britain’s Royal Air Force trained Saudi personnel in 2019 on fighter jets used to bomb civilians in Yemen – a country on the brink of famine – while UK soldiers coached other forces in the Saudi-led coalition at nearly a dozen army bases in Britain.
Exclusive: British army sent unqualified investigators to Iraq where troops ‘got away with murder’, veterans say
The British army’s choice of unqualified junior officers to lead its police investigations unit during and after the 2003 invasion of Iraq contributed to soldiers escaping accountability for abuses, former members of the unit have told Declassified UK.
British SAS soldier-turned-mercenary dies aged 86 without facing justice for war crimes
SAS veteran Brian Baty served on covert operations across the crumbling British empire from the 1950s, then sold his counter-insurgency experience to the Sri Lankan government, profiting from massacres of Tamil civilians. A UK minister said these killings should be investigated as war crimes days after Baty passed away unpunished, following decades of official cover-ups.