Manama: People have been flocking to the homes of three Qatari soldiers who died while serving as part of the coalition to restore Yemen’s legitimate government.
Senior state officials, including ministers, diplomats and common people have been offering their condolences to the bereaved families, Qatari daily Al Raya reported on Thursday.
“The morale of our valiant troops is really high, and the martyrdom of the three soldiers will boost Qatar’s determination and resolve to carry on with its role with the Arab coalition,” Chief of Staff the Qatari Armed Forces, Major General Ganem Bin Shaheen Al Ganem, was quoted as saying by the daily as he offered his condolences.
Reports in Doha said the three soldiers died on Monday when their vehicle overturned near a check-point.
The soldiers, along with a fourth trooper, were heading to the check-point to take over duties from the staff there when the incident happened.
The driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle and it rolled over twice. The crash caused the death of two of the soldiers on the spot while the third died later from grievous head injuries. The fourth soldier survived and is in stable condition, Al Raya said.
In its statement, the Qatari Armed Forces said that Mohammad Awad Salem, Mohammad Dawood Khayal and Mohammad Nasser Mohammad were martyred while carrying out their duties as part of the Saudi-led Arab coalition participating in operation ‘Restore Hope’ in Yemen.
The bodies of the three soldiers were repatriated and buried in Qatar in a funeral attended by the Emir, Shaikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, and the Prime Minister, Shaikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Al Thani.
The incident marked the highest number of casualties for Qatar since it joined the coalition last year and sent ground troops, armoured vehicles and Apache combat helicopters.
One Qatari soldier, identified as Mohammad Hamid Sulaiman, was killed in Yemen in November.
