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The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to cut off U.S. military support for the Saudi-led coalition waging war in Yemen matching a vote this month in the Senate.

Similarly the U.S. House of Representatives is sending the legislation to the desk of President Donald Trump.

The 247 to 175 vote was largely along party lines, though several members of Trump’s Republican Party joined Democrats in supporting the measure.

Trump, who has stood by Saudi Arabia through the war in Yemen and the murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khasoggi in 2018, is expected to veto the bill.

Congress would likely lack the two-thirds majority to override the veto.

The U.S. in 2018 stopped mid-air refueling operations for the Saudis and United Arab Emirates in the war, but continues to offer various forms of support, including training and guidance.

Yemen, one of the Arab world’s poorest countries, has been embroiled in a devastating conflict since 2014 between government forces, backed by oil-rich Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and the Houthi rebels, backed by Iran.

U.S. lawmakers have denounced the war as a humanitarian disaster.

Charity groups have estimated that 85,000 children have died in Yemen due to hunger, disease and conflict.

The country on the brink of famine, and some 80 per cent of the country’s population required humanitarian aid.

Thousands of civilians have died in the fighting, which has been included in Saudi-led airstrikes.

The resolution directs the president to remove U.S. military personnel from hostilities related to Yemen within 30 days.

The bill makes an exception for action against al-Qaeda in Yemen.

(dpa/NAN)