US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis confirmed Friday night that the Pentagon would no longer refuel Saudi-led coalition planes fighting in the Houthi rebels in Yemen; the decision had been reported by The Washington Post earlier in the day.
Why it matters: The US decision to call off in-flight refueling of Saudi and Emirati warplanes comes after congressional Democrats — who have tried to persuade the Donald Trump administration to cut support to the coalition — swept to victory in the House of Representatives in Tuesday’s elections. “We support the decision by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, after consultations with the US government, to use the coalition’s own military capabilities to conduct inflight refueling in support of its operations in Yemen,” Mattis said Friday.
