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A Pilot
readies a Saudi Arabia Army Royal Saudi Air Force F-15 Eagle Fighter Jet. Image
source: AllPosters.com
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The Saudi cabinet
announced a pay increase of up to 60 percent for air force pilots on Monday,
state news agency SPA reported, as a military campaign led by the kingdom in
neighbouring Yemen entered its third year.
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Design by
Farwa Rizwan/ Al Arabiya News
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Saudi
Arabia and its mostly Gulf Arab allies have launched thousands of air strikes
in an attempt to dislodge Yemen's armed Houthi movement from the capital Sanaa.
The
kingdom is also member of the U.S.-led alliance against Islamic State in Syria.
The
cabinet amended laws pertaining to military officers, allowing air force pilots
and weapons operators to receive a 35 percent rise on basic salary, said in a
statement. The increase for officers flying fighter jets and operating their
weapons systems will be 60 percent, it said.
No
reason was given for the move, nor an indication of what their current salaries
might be.
The
world's biggest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia has implemented some austerity
measures to wean its citizens off decades of government largesse.
But
the kingdom remains determined to prevail in the war next door, where at least
10,000 people have been killed according to United Nations figures, and last
year exempted active soldiers from cuts to annual leave and bonuses.
Rights
groups say the Saudi-led coalition's air campaign has included hits on
hospitals, schools, markets, factories and homes, killing hundreds of civilians
in what they say may constitute war crimes.
The
coalition denies deliberately targeting innocents and accuses the Houthis of
using civilian installations to conceal weapons and launch missile attacks
against the kingdom with help from the Saudis' arch-rival Iran, a charge Tehran
denies.
Its campaign seeks to oust the Houthis and restore to power internationally recognized president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
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