Arab News | Be ready to sacrifice lives to defend nation from Houthis, Saudi Grand Muftis urges troops

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s top religious authority called on soldiers in the Kingdom to be ready to lay down their lives to fight the Houthis amid escalating attacks by the Iran-backed militia.

“Protecting this great nation and punishing anyone who seeks to lay a hand on even an inch of its territory are among the greatest duties and most virtuous acts of devotion, for which lives and souls may be sacrificed in seeking God’s pleasure,” Sheikh Saleh bin Fawzan Al-Fawzan said in a statement ⁠carried by the Saudi Press Agency.

The rare and strongly worded message was addressed to soldiers stationed at the country’s borders and drew heavily on Qur’anic verses and recorded sayings of the Prophet Muhammad related to sacrifice and struggle in defense of God.

It comes ‌after weeks of ‌escalating violence between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis which ​has ‌seen ⁠the Iran-backed ​group attack ⁠the kingdom with salvos of missiles and drones and Saudi Arabia respond with airstrikes.

Asserting the authority of the internationally recognized Yemeni ‌government over the entire country was “among the most pressing ‌obligations,” the statement added.

Houthi forces seized control of the ​vital Bab al-Mandab waterway ‌two weeks back, threatening to worsen the world’s oil crisis amid disruption in the flow of the vital commodity in the Strait of Hormuz.

The recent fighting is the latest episode in 12 years of civil war in Yemen which had largely been frozen since a 2022 but has escalated again and has become linked to ‌the wider Iran war.

“We ask God Almighty to grant you all his support, and to protect our countries and beloved Yemen from ⁠all harm. We ⁠also ask him to bring about the complete defeat of the Houthi group and those who assist and support them,” the statement said.

State TV has in recent weeks aired footage of an alleged Houthi strike on a mosque in the kingdom’s south, and authorities have also accused the Houthis of launching an attack on Makkah, Islam’s holiest site.

“It is incumbent upon you, brothers serving on the front lines, to remain constantly prepared to perform your duty, to obey the rulers and your field commanders, and to carry out orders with ​the utmost precision, as God Almighty ​commanded the companions of his Prophet to do,” the statement said.

“You are following in the footsteps of the Prophet’s companions, defending the sacred sites of Muslims.”