Dubai: The deaths of an Emirati and a Saudi officer who were best of friends in Yemen has stirred hearts.
Colonel Abdullah Bin Mohammad Al Sahyan of Saudi Arabia and Emirati soldier Sultan Mohammad Al Ketbi were martyred while carrying out their duties as part of the Restoring Hope operation.
Family, friends bid farewell to Al Dhaid’s hero
Images show the two soldiers were side-by-side as they fought in Yemen. Twitter users created two hashtags with the names of the martyrs that saw hundreds of tweets.
@Al_Ketbi tweeted in Arabic: “Together to Paradise you heroes, may Allah’s Mercy shower you both.”
@zayedarab1 tweeted – also in Arabic – “They only met on the battlefield, and there they became brothers, and there they were martyred.”
@Abuhamed7 tweeted that the “arena of pride brought them together and together they were martyred. May Allah have mercy on their souls”.
Dirar Belhoul Al Falasi, director-general of Watani Al Emarat Foundation, @dbelhoul, tweeted his condolences in Arabic, in what translates to “the blood of all the martyrs and the injured got mixed together to form a beautiful saga written by the heroes of the ‘Restoring Hope’ operation”.
The Arab Coalition extended its condolences to the martyrs’ families on asking Allah Almighty to bless their souls and bestow solace upon their families.
Missile attack
A missile attack by Al Houthi rebels killed Emirati officer Sultan Mohammad Ali Al Ketbi and Saudi Arabia’s Colonel Abdullah Al Sahyan in Bab Al Mandab, south-west Yemen.
The martyrdom just a day before a planned ceasefire led to hashtags on social media condemning the incident.
Quoting a news website, ‘Yemen Press’, 24.ae reported that two other Saudi soldiers were also martyred. The site had mentioned that Al Sahyan was martyred after he had left Aden for Bab Al Mandab to inspect the forces in the areas.
Based on the source, he was accompanied by coalition forces. As they stopped near Bab Al Mandab Omari camp, they were hit by the missile, which resulted in the deaths of Al Sahyan and Al Ketbi.
