Abu Dhabi: Three Emirati martyrs — Mohammad Khalfan Abdullah Saleem Al Siyabi from Abu Dhabi, Ali Khamis Saleem Al Ketbi from Al Ain and Ahmad Khamis Al Hammadi from the Western Region — who died in Yemen were laid to on Thursday. They were among four Emirati soldiers who died on Tuesday when a hotel and other buildings in the southern Yemeni city of Aden were targeted in multiple terrorist attacks.
Around 2,000 people gathered at 10am at the Bani Yas mosque to pay their last respects to the martyr Al Siyabi and express their deepest condolences to his family.
Streets were filled with thousands of other people eager to share this moment of deep sorrow and pride with the martyr’s family. Some even ended up praying in their cars as the road leading to the mosque was packed with mourners. Carrying the martyr on their shoulders, the armed forces personnel arrived at 11.30am with the martyr’s son Khalifa and his siblings surrounding the soldiers, all of whom performed the funeral prayer following after Dhuhr prayers.
As soon as the prayers were over, the martyr was carried once again and was laid to rest at the Bani Yas graveyard, which is 1.5km from the mosque. At a mourning tent at Al Shamkha, Mohammad’s family members were showered with love, support and sympathy for the loss of their hero.
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, also visited the mourning tent and extended his heartfelt condolences to the martyr’s family. Khalid, the brother of the martyr, told Gulf News: “Today, Mohammad Al Siyabi is our symbol of pride and we can now hold our head high for his courage, devotion and loyalty, all of which were traits that he had always demonstrated. He was performing his national duty in Yemen and had to give up his life for a better tomorrow, a safer world and to also restore hope again to the country and its people. He is now in a better place and may he land in paradise,” he said.
In Al Ain, a group of soldiers carrying 29-year-old martyr Al Ketbi, whose body was draped in the UAE flag, arrived at 9am at the Armed Forces’ Martyrs Mosque where hundreds of people gathered for the prayers. The martyr was later laid to rest at the Al Mutawa cemetery.
Majid, the brother of the martyr, said: “We all feel proud bidding Ali farewell; he sacrificed his life to grant Yemen and its people the happiness and prosperity they deserve.”
Meanwhile in the Western Region, around 1,000 people gathered and prayed for 39-year-old martyr Al Hammadi. The armed forces personnel carrying the martyr arrived at 3.30pm in Al Marfa. He was later laid to rest at Al Marfa cemetery following the funeral and Asr prayers at Al Muhajirin Mosque.
Mal Allah Khamis Al Hammadi, the martyr’s brother, told Gulf News: “We are five siblings and Ahmad was the eldest. He has been a part of the UAE army since 1991. He told his friends before going to Yemen that he wanted to return to the UAE as a martyr. His deployment was supposed to end on Sunday but it was extended for three more days. He died on the third day. Today, Mohammad is a role model we all look up to and we couldn’t be more proud of him.”
Meanwhile, Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior visited the family of the martyr Rashid Al Abdouli, who died in Germany on Sunday from injuries he sustained in an incident in Marib in September.
He extended his condolences to his family during the martyr’s funeral in Fujairah and prayed to God to grant all of UAE’s martyrs immediate access to paradise.
Maisoon Mubarak is a trainee at Gulf News.
