More than 80 allegedly unlawful attacks in Yemen have been carried out by the Saudis, human rights activists have discovered, and some attacks have used UK-made bombs.

Since the spring of 2015, Saudi Arabia has launched what campaigners described as a “devastating aerial campaign”, targeting areas crowded with civilians including schools, hospitals, weddings and markets.

Many of those attacks, which allegedly breach international law, used bombs and cluster munitions made in the UK, worth £3 billion to the UK economy over the past two years.

The Campaign Against Arms Trade has challenged the UK Government over its alleged complicity in human rights crimes in Yemen, where more than 10,000 civilians have died as of January, and the verdict is pending.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said she was “confident” the verdict would be in the government’s favour.

Kristine Beckerle, Yemen and Kuwait Researcher at Human Rights Watch, said Yemen is struggling from war, famine and cholera and the UK should stop selling arms to the Saudis.

“It’s not just a question of the right thing to do, it’s also a question of legal liability,” she said.

Independent candidate claims Amber Rudd shut down his speech about arms sales to Saudi Arabia

Asked if the coalition air strikes could breed terrorism in Yemen, she replied: “Do those conditions make it very, very difficult for civilians to live and get on with their lives? Absolutely. Impossible.”

Home Secretary Amber Rudd, when questioned during a BBC leaders debate last week on the issue, replied that selling arms was “good for our industry”.

On the BBC Woman’s Hour radio debate on Tuesday, Ms Rudd added that the UK had the “toughest form of export licences in the world” and the UK sold arms in a way that was “robust and correct”.

10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Show all 10 1 /10 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In October 2014, three lawyers, Dr Abdulrahman al-Subaihi, Bander al-Nogaithan and Abdulrahman al-Rumaih , were sentenced to up to eight years in prison for using Twitter to criticize the Ministry of Justice. AFP/Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In March 2015, Yemen’s Sunni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was forced into exile after a Shia-led insurgency. A Saudi Arabia-led coalition has responded with air strikes in order to reinstate Mr Hadi. It has since been accused of committing war crimes in the country. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Women who supported the Women2Drive campaign, launched in 2011 to challenge the ban on women driving vehicles, faced harassment and intimidation by the authorities. The government warned that women drivers would face arrest. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Members of the Kingdom’s Shia minority, most of whom live in the oil-rich Eastern Province, continue to face discrimination that limits their access to government services and employment. Activists have received death sentences or long prison terms for their alleged participation in protests in 2011 and 2012. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses All public gatherings are prohibited under an order issued by the Interior Ministry in 2011. Those defy the ban face arrest, prosecution and imprisonment on charges such as “inciting people against the authorities”. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In March 2014, the Interior Ministry stated that authorities had deported over 370,000 foreign migrants and that 18,000 others were in detention. Thousands of workers were returned to Somalia and other states where they were at risk of human rights abuses, with large numbers also returned to Yemen, in order to open more jobs to Saudi Arabians. Many migrants reported that prior to their deportation they had been packed into overcrowded makeshift detention facilities where they received little food and water and were abused by guards. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses The Saudi Arabian authorities continue to deny access to independent human rights organisations like Amnesty International, and they have been known to take punitive action, including through the courts, against activists and family members of victims who contact Amnesty. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Raif Badawi was sentenced to 1000 lashes and 10 years in prison for using his liberal blog to criticise Saudi Arabia’s clerics. He has already received 50 lashes, which have reportedly left him in poor health. Carsten Koall/Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Dawood al-Marhoon was arrested aged 17 for participating in an anti-government protest. After refusing to spy on his fellow protestors, he was tortured and forced to sign a blank document that would later contain his ‘confession’. At Dawood’s trial, the prosecution requested death by crucifixion while refusing him a lawyer. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was arrested in 2012 aged either 16 or 17 for participating in protests during the Arab spring. His sentence includes beheading and crucifixion. The international community has spoken out against the punishment and has called on Saudi Arabia to stop. He is the nephew of a prominent government dissident. Getty

She was also questioned on the funding links to terrorism.

“Well, we’ve managed to reduce that, the funding links,” she said.

“We are always watchful to make sure that their [the Saudis'] influence, where it’s bad, is going to be limited, but you say that we should somehow distance ourselves from them because of their human rights approach to women and other elements – how do we do that, how do we change that? By influencing. By engaging.”

The child victims of Yemen’s civil war

Conservatives are being pushed to make public a report, commissioned by former Prime Minister David Cameron, that investigates whether Saudi Arabia funds terrorist groups. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the report was confidential, and Ms Rudd said the report was “never meant to be seen”.

In the wake of several terrorist attacks on UK soil, Theresa May said people needed to have "frankly embarrassing conversations".

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn responded on Twitter: “We need to have some difficult conversations, starting with Saudi Arabia & other Gulf states that have funded and fuelled extremist ideology."

Caroline Lucas asks Amber Rudd 'how can you sleep at night' when dealing arms with Saudi Arabia

Since Saudi Arabia has been subject to direct attacks from al-Qaida starting May 2003, the country has become much more involved in combating extremism and in partnership with western allies.

But Adam Coogle, Middle East Researcher from Human Rights Watch, told The Independent that the Kingdom's new anti-terrorism apparatus – including a dedicated court and rehabilitation centre – was also being used to quash dissent and punish human rights activists.

“While Saudi Arabia may be affecting to help fight groups like Isis and al-Qaida in the country and in the region at large, there are very problematic ways in which Saudi clerics and government officials continue to propagate a very extremist, narrow interpretation of Islam that castigates non-Sunni Muslims as unbelievers,” he said.

“To be clear I would never accuse Saudi Arabia of supporting or funding Isis as there has never been any evidence to suggest this is true, but if you look at the way Saudi [school] textbooks describe Shia Muslims and the way Isis talks about them, there’s not a lot of difference.”

The US has also sold $100 billion in arms to the Kingdom during the Barack Obama administration, and Mr Trump negotiated a further $100 billion deal in May.