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UAE declares 3-day mourning to honor fallen soldiers in Yemen

Xinhua, September 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

The United Arab Emirates government has declared a three-day mourning period following the killing of 22 Emirati soldiers in a blast at an ammunition depot in Yemen, state news agency WAM reported.

According to Ministry of Presidential Affairs in Abu Dhabi, the three-day official mourning will start on Saturday and that the national flag will be flown at half-mast.

The 22 soldiers were killed in an accident when a blast at an ammunition depot in the eastern Yemeni oil province of Marib.

The explosion also killed a number of Yemenis.

The UAE is part of a Saudi-led coalition comprising nine Arab states supporting Yemen's government under President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi against Shiite Houthi rebels.

So far, the UAE has lost 45 soldiers in the war in Yemen, according to WAM. Endit