Controversial UK arms fair begins, which will enable 'Yemen atrocities for years to come'

Hundreds of military personnel and government officials will attend a key arms fair in the UK on Monday to purchase new weaponry, which human rights groups have warned could trigger further atrocities in the region's war zones - such as Yemen - for years to come.

The Farnborough International Arms Fair will take place from 16 to 22 July and will bring some of the world's biggest arms companies together with a number of government and military delegations. Some of these have been accused of serious human rights abuses.

In 2016, at least 93 military delegations attended, including regime representatives from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, and military leaders and officials from the Philippines and Turkey.

Over 1,500 companies - including some of the world's largest arms companies - will be displayed at Farnborough.

Weapons on display will included fighter jets, drones, and missile systems. BAE Systems, MBDA, and Raytheon - which make combat aircraft and bombs thought to be used by Saudi forces in Yemen - will attend the event.

"Farnborough International is a key part of the arms industry calendar. A lot of the regimes in attendance have been linked to terrible human rights abuses, and events like Farnborough International only make them more likely in future," Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade said.

"Right now, Saudi Arabian forces are using UK fighter jets and bombs in their brutal bombardment of Yemen. The arms sales being negotiated this week could be used to enable atrocities for years to come."

Delegates arriving at the arms fair on Monday were greeted by protesters holding banners which read: "Arms dealers here today. This is not Ok."

Demonstrators also staged a protest in central London, carrying replica missiles and calling on the government to halt its arming of Saudi Arabia.

Earlier this year, Amnesty International said that US and UK arms sales to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen made a "mockery" of global arms treaties and has resulted in "enormous harm" to civilians.

Saudi Arabia and its allies launched a military intervention in Yemen in 2015 with the aim of rolling back Houthi rebels who had seized the capital, and restoring the government to power.

Since then at least 10,000 people have been killed - the vast majority civilians - and more than 50,000 wounded.

The UK has licensed £4.6 billion ($6.3 billion) worth of weaponry to Saudi Arabia since its "intervention" in Yemen - in March 2015 - began.

The war has created what the UN describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with both sides, particularly the Saudi-led coalition, criticised for indiscriminate bombing.