UAE leaders during last year's Commemoration Day event at Wahat Al Karama in Abu Dhabi. Courtesy: Wam
UAE leaders during last year's Commemoration Day event at Wahat Al Karama in Abu Dhabi. Courtesy: Wam
UAE leaders during last year's Commemoration Day event at Wahat Al Karama in Abu Dhabi. Courtesy: Wam
UAE leaders during last year's Commemoration Day event at Wahat Al Karama in Abu Dhabi. Courtesy: Wam

Remembering heroes: five-year anniversary of UAE’s 45 martyrs


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Friday marked the fifth anniversary of the day when 45 Emirati soldiers were martyred as part of an operation in Yemen.

The UAE Armed Forces servicemen died after a rocket attack in Yemen during a Saudi-led operation to drive out Houthi rebels.

Despite the loss, the UAE remained committed to restoring peace and security in Yemen.

At the time, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, said: “The UAE has lost a group of its purest men."

And, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, said at the time: “They’re true patriots who demonstrated utmost love and loyalty to their country and nation. Our martyrs of duty are true models in our history.”

The tragic incident took place at a military base in the eastern province of Marib in central Yemen.

In December 2015, UAE president Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed issued a decree that November 30 would be marked as Commemoration Day as a way to honour and remember the country's heroes.

During last year’s Commemoration Day, a number of martyrs' families were honoured at an event at the Wahat Al Karama – the national landmark in Abu Dhabi that honours the sacrifices and heroic deeds of UAE heroes while defending their homeland.

They were awarded with a Medal of the Martyr.

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What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989

Director: Goran Hugo Olsson

Rating: 5/5

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma

When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

The specs

Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors

Power: Combined output 920hp

Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic

Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km

On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025

Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000

Dubai World Cup draw

1. Gunnevera

2. Capezzano

3. North America

4. Audible

5. Seeking The Soul

6. Pavel

7. Gronkowski

8. Axelrod

9. New Trails

10. Yoshida

11. K T Brave

12. Thunder Snow

13. Dolkong 

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