The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen will stop using cluster munitions, according to a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Despite the announcement that cluster bombs will no longer used in the conflict, the statement added that “neither Saudi Arabia nor its coalition partners are state parties to the 2008 convention and, according, the coalition’s use of cluster munitions does not violate the obligations of these states under international law.”

Nonetheless the government of Saudi Arabia confirms that it has decided to stop the use of cluster munitions and says it has “informed the [UK] government of that.”

Although it has been illegal under British law since 2010 to supply cluster bombs, UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said that Saudi Arabia has been using munitions bought from the UK in the 1980’s. Fallon also said the UK had not supplied any cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia since 1989.

In addition to this, earlier this month MEED reported that the US government has said it will cut back on the sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia due to the rising civilian casualties in the ongoing military conflict in Yemen.

Off-limits arms, however, will be confined only to precision-guided weapons, according to a BBC report citing a source at Pentagon.

The sale of $1.15bn-worth of tanks and other land-based weapons to Saud Arabia, approved by the US Senate in September, is understood to still go ahead.

The US said it will also continue providing the kingdom with intelligence focused on border security and in training pilots involved in the air military campaign