Saudi Arabia has said its military coalition will scale back operations against the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, according to reports.
Brigadier General Ahmed al-Assiri told AFP in an exclusive interview that the coalition is, “in the end of the major combat phase.”
“We would welcome and do welcome” that statement, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. Earnest also noted that the deaths of civilians in Yemen has been of concern to the United States, “We have expressed our concerns about the loss of innocent life in Yemen. The violence there that is plaguing that country has caught too many innocent civilians in the crossfire.”
Assiri’s comments come on the heels of one of the deadliest air strikes of the war, as the death toll from an air strike by Saudi-led coalition on an outdoor market in northwestern Yemen has risen to more than 100, according to Reuters.
While the United States has provided logistical and intelligence support to the coalition, it is more focused on the threat posed by the self-decribed ISIS terrorist group in Iraq and Syria.
The war in Yemen reportedly costs an estimated $200 million a day, or $6 billion a month.
