‘Crocodile tears’: Boris Johnson accused of hypocrisy over tweet on Yemen deaths

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has been accused of “sickening hypocrisy” after tweeting he is “saddened” by news of Yemeni civilians being killed by the Saudi Arabia-led bombardment of the country.

Up to 20 people were reported killed after a Saudi-led coalition airstrike targeted a wedding party in Hajja, a northern province of Yemen, on Sunday. The bride was among the dead.

Another attack on Saturday in the Mouza district, a western area of the country near the city of Taiz, killed another 20 when a fighter jet bombed a bus carrying commuters.

READ MORE: Silence from UK govt slammed after reports of deadly Saudi-led airstrike on Yemen wedding

The UK has licensed £4.6 billion (US$6.4 billion) worth of arms to the Saudis since they intervened in the civil war in support of the Yemen government.

Despite widespread calls to stop the arms sales amid claims the UK is making itself complicit in the Yemen atrocities, Prime Minister Theresa May in March approved the sale of 48 highly advanced fighter jets to the Gulf country despite protestations.

Johnson’s seemingly compassionate tweet was subsequently attacked, with Twitter users posting that his sadness was akin to “crocodile tears.”

The UN has labelled Yemen “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis” and put the death toll in Yemen since the war began at 10,000, with many more wounded.

Some 22 million people in Yemen, or 80 percent of the population, are in need of humanitarian aid, the UN has said.

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