Making a killing: Saudi fighter pilots get massive raise

Saudi Arabia has given its air force pilots up to a 60 percent salary increase, as the country’s devastating aerial bombing campaign in Yemen enters its third year.

The Saudi Press Agency on Monday reported that the kingdom’s cabinet approved a 35 percent increase in the basic salaries of all air force pilots and weapons operators.

Meanwhile, officers who fly fighter jets or operate their weapons systems were approved to receive a 60 percent pay increase, SPA reported.

The generous move comes as Saudi Arabia implements drastic austerity measures to deal with an $80 billion deficit caused by a slump in oil prices.

The kingdom has led an Arab coalition that has been engaged in an aerial bombing campaign in Yemen since March 2015.

The coalition began airstrikes after Houthi rebels and allied troops loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh overran much of Yemen.

More than 10,000 civilians have since been killed and a further 40,000 wounded, according to the United Nations. Seven million Yemenis now face starvation, it says.

The Saudi-led Arab coalition has come under repeated criticism over the civilian casualties of its airstrikes.

Last month, Amnesty International accused the Saudi-led coalition of using banned cluster munitions in raids on residential areas.

Amnesty said the bombs, made in Brazil, had been used in multiple attacks since October 2015, most recently in February in the Houthi-controlled northern Saada region.

In December the coalition admitted it had made "limited use" of British-made cluster bombs. It maintains it does not deliberately target civilians.