RIYADH, KOMPAS.com – Saudi Arabia on Saturday (10/4/2021) executed 3 soldiers because “high betrayal“against the Ministry of Defense.
Launch AFP on Saturday (10/4/2021), the three soldiers were found guilty of “high treason cooperating with the enemy” in a way that threatened the kingdom and its military interests.
The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Defense reported this news in a public statement published by Saudi Press Agency.
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The statement mentioned the names of the three soldiers who were executed, namely Mohammed bin Ahmed, Shaher bin Issa and Hamoud bin Ibrahim. However, it did not provide identification with whom they colluded.
Announcement of high treason by the soldiers appeared, when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the 35-year-old heir to the throne, is consolidating his power in the growing military campaign in Yemen.
Prince Mohammed is already seen as the country’s de facto ruler, controlling all major levers of government, from defense to the economy.
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He holds the title of minister of defense, while his younger brother Prince Khalid bin Salman is his deputy.
Over the past 3 years, the Crown Prince has cracked down on critics and his opponents, including jailing members of prominent royal families, business conglomerates, clerics and activists.
In March 2020, Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, King Salman’s brother and nephew of the king, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, was detained.
Sources say it happened as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was trying to root out any traces of internal dissent.
Saudi authorities have not publicly commented on their ongoing detention.
Riyadh has led a military coalition in Yemen since March 2015 to support an internationally recognized government.
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However, it has struggled to overthrow the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
As a result, there has been a surge in missile and drone attacks against the kingdom.
Fighting has also escalated in Yemen’s main region of Marib, with 53 pro-government fighters and Houthi rebels killed in the past 24 hours, loyalist military officials said on Saturday.
The Houthis have been trying to seize oil-rich Marib, the Yemeni government’s last key enclave of territory in the north, since February.
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