Fujairah: Emirati army pilot Ahmad Mohammad Al Zeyoudi, who was martyred in a helicopter air crash along with his colleague, Abdullah Mohammad Saeed Al Yamahi, was laid to rest in his ancestral village of Al Hala, in the remote hills of Fujairah.
Al Yamahi was also laid to rest in his village of Mirbedh, also in the emirate of Fujairah.
Hundreds of mourners from across the country attended the funerals held at Haroon Al Rasheed Mosque in Al Hala, some 50km from the city of Fujairah.
Father of six-year-old twins, Al Zeyoudi was martyred when a military aircraft he was piloting crashed in Yemen on Monday.
“He spoke to the family a day before he died and he asked everyone to pray. He was brave and was always ready to lay down his life for the country,” said Khalifa, the younger brother of Al Zeyoudi, who is also an army officer.
He added that Al Zeyoudi’s wife is expecting their third child in September.
The bodies of the martyrs arrived in a military aircraft at Al Bateen Airport, Abu Dhabi, and were airlifted to the village in a military chopper. The bodies were given a military reception on arrival by senior military officials.
The General Command of the UAE Armed Forces on Monday mourned the two martyrs, who died after their military aircraft crashed while they were performing their national duty as part of Operation Restoring Hope, which is being carried out by the Saudi-led Arab Coalition.
The eldest of the nine brothers and six sisters, Al Zeyoudi was a family man and loved by everyone in the community, his brother said.
“He enrolled in the military school in 1997 and joined the armed forces as the pilot in 2002. Since then he has always wished to be a martyr,” added Khalifa.
This is the third time Al Zeyoudi had gone to Yemen as part of the Saudi-led operation Restoring Hope.
Expressing pride in his brother’s fate, Khalifa wished he would also die a martyr. “All of us are ready to lay down our lives to defend our country and religion. We are ready to sacrifice as many lives as our nation needs,” said Khalifa.
His neighbour, Mohammad Juma, agreed. “There is no better way to die than dying for your country.”
