Sharjah: Emotional tributes were paid to Waleed Al Yassi and Yousuf Hassan Al Obaidli, two of the 45 UAE soldiers martyred in Yemen, during their funeral prayers at Sharjah’s Shaikh Saud Al Qasimi mosque on Saturday afternoon.
Their bodies, along with those of the other soldiers killed on Friday, were flown in from Yemen on a UAE Armed Forces plane earlier on Saturday.
The mosque overflowed with mourners and many people prayed in the parking lot outside. Similar scenes were repeated in mosques in other emirates where the funerals of the fallen soldiers were held.
There was a heavy police presence and officials directed traffic in the mosque’s vicinity. Many Emirati women stood outside the women’s section, waiting for the arrival of the bodies — and a chance to get one last look of the martyrs.
Attendees were mostly Emirati residents, as well as members of the UAE Armed Forces, and some expatriates. Local media were also present.
A military helicopter landed at the nearby Al Qasimi Hospital and two ambulances transported the bodies to the mosque shortly afterwards. It was very quiet and the huge crowd remained still, with some ascending the mosque stairs for a better view.
After final preparations, the bodies, draped in the UAE flag, were placed inside the prayer hall.
A Muslim preacher addressed the gathering, praising the ultimate sacrifice of the servicemen and praying for the families of the martyrs. The relatives of the affected families received condolences from scores of worshippers at the mosque. A few people broke down in tears, hugging each other tightly.
After the regular Asr afternoon prayer, a single funeral prayer was held for the two martyrs together. A rush of people tried to lend support to the biers as they were carried out after the prayers.
Under a sizeable escort, the bodies were taken for burial at the main city graveyard.
Mohammad Faruq, a Pakistani expat who works in the area, said he and some colleagues had heard Emirati customers talking about the scheduled funeral earlier in the day. “We decided to come and pay our respects. The more people join the prayer, the better it is. So we joined in,” he said.
The crowd melted away and a few people stayed back, discussing the day’s event.
The soldiers were killed in the line of duty during Operation Restoring Hope, under the Saudi Arabia-led Arab coalition, of which the UAE is a part, to support the people of Yemen and their legitimate government, news agency WAM reported.
The initial death toll was 22 soldiers and 23 more succumbed to injuries stained during Friday’s Al Houthi rebel attack in Marib province of Yemen, not far from the border with Saudi Arabia. In the incident, a surface-to-surface missile had been used to target an arms depot at a military base.
A three-day mourning period has been declared in the UAE, starting on Saturday.
