US Senators double down on Saudi Arabia over cholera outbreak in Yemen

The senators urged Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to complete his country's contribution for aid in Yemen, highlighting that so far the Saudis have only given a small share of the $750 million commitment, according to the letter.

They highlighted that the UN is relies on that funding for life-saving aid programs, which include the delivery of food, medication, vaccinations and fuel to the impoverish war-torn country.

"If funding is not received by the end of October, 5 million people - in a country facing the largest cholera outbreak in modern history - will lose access to clean water," the letter said, according to Reuters.

The letter, which was address to MbS, was led by Democratic Senator Chris Murphy and Republican Senator Todd Young, both of whom have been vocal critics of Saudi Arabia’s human rights violations and role in the war on Yemen.

Anger has been mounting in Congress for months over the US President Donald Trump administration's close ties to the Saudis, fuelled by high civilian casualties in the Saudi-led war in Yemen - a military campaign Washington is assisting - and the killing of US-based columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents.

Tensions were further inflamed when Trump used an emergency declaration in May to sell the kingdom weapons that Congress had previously placed on hold.

The intervention by the Saudi-led coalition, which includes Riyadh's partner the UAE, began in March 2015. Led by the Saudi crown prince, the campaign claims to be fighting to rescue Yemen from Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

The war has killed some 85,000 children, according to rights groups, and pushed as many as 12 million people to brink of famine. The UN has called the war in Yemen the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

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