The statement, issued late Thursday and attributed to Sheikh Saleh bin Fawzan Al-Fawzan, framed military service as a duty to protect the country. It called on soldiers to follow orders from rulers and field commanders and invoked religious language about sacrifice and defence.
The message follows weeks of escalating exchanges. Reuters reported missile and drone attacks by the Houthis and Saudi airstrikes in response. The renewed violence has prompted questions about whether Riyadh could expand its military role alongside forces backing Yemen’s internationally recognised government.
The conflict has persisted since a Saudi-led intervention began in 2015. Fighting had been largely frozen since a 2022 truce, but the latest escalation is unfolding amid the wider regional war involving Iran, according to Reuters.
The mufti’s appeal also comes as control of the Bab el-Mandeb strait remains strategically contested. Reuters reported that forces aligned with Yemen’s recognised government recently lost ground there to the Houthis, a setback with implications for shipping through a key route linking the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The statement reflects the Saudi authorities’ increasingly religious framing of the confrontation. Its claims and calls for action were carried by state media; they should be distinguished from independently verified battlefield developments.