RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Wednesday sent a cable of condolences to his Bahraini counterpart King Hamad over the death and injury of a number of soldiers in a terrorist attack on the Bahrain Defense Force, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
King Salman condemned “this criminal act in the strongest terms,” and reaffirmed his country’s support for Bahrain.
The Saudi monarch “sent condolences and sincere sympathy to the Bahraini king, families of the martyrs, and the entire population of Bahrain, wishing the injured a speedy recovery,” the statement on SPA said.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also sent a similar cable to King Hamad and made a phone call, condemning the incident.
King Hamad expressed his thanks and appreciation for the crown prince and affirmed that Bahrain is proud of the "martyred" soldiers, who were carrying out their national duties.
The bodies of the fallen servicemen Lieutenant Mubarak Hashel Zayed Al-Kubaisi and Corporal Yaqoub Rahmat Moulai Mohammed arrived on Monday at the Isa Air Base on board a Royal Bahraini Air Force aircraft, the Bahrain New Agency said.
Bahrain’s military command said a drone attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels killed the two Bahraini soldiers — one of them an officer — at Saudi Arabia’s southern border early Monday. The soldiers had been patrolling the area.
A third Bahraini service member died on Wednesday, the Bahrain News Agency reported.
Earlier, Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry voiced its “condemnation and denunciation” of the “treacherous attack on the defense force of the Kingdom of Bahrain stationed on the southern border of the Kingdom, which resulted in the martyrdom of a number of its brave soldiers and the injury of others.”
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stands by Bahrain and renews its stance of rejection to the continued flow of weapons to the terrorist Houthi militia as well as calls to ban arms export to Yemeni territories,” it said.
