“Compulsory military service for our youth is important and required to ensure that our strength is not unbeatable,” the Grand Mufti, who is the highest religious figure in Saudi Arabia, said in Riyadh.
The comments, which were made during Friday's prayer sermon, come just two weeks after Saudi Arabia launched an offensive in Yemen to help the government counter Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.
Young Saudis “must be ready and armed at all times to resist any demon. We must prepare our youth the proper way so that they become our shield for jihad in the service God against enemies of the religion and the nation,” he said.
The Mufti added that Saudi Arabia is blessed to live in safe environment and that “in return of this blessing, young Saudis must be constantly ready to defend the religion and the nation through their compulsory military trainings.”
Gulf countries, led by Saudi Arabia, are currently conducting air strikes in Yemen to help the government to counter Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
Meanwhile, the United States is expanding its intelligence-sharing with Saudi Arabia to provide more information about potential targets in the Kingdom's air campaign against Houthi militias in Yemen, US officials told Reuters.
The US officials said the expanded assistance includes sensitive intelligence data that will allow the Saudis to better review the Kingdom's targets in fighting that has killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands since March.
“We have opened up the aperture a bit wider with what we are sharing with our Saudi partners. We are helping them get a better sense of the battlefield and the state of play with the Houthi forces. We are also helping identify ‘no strike’ areas they should avoid" to minimize any civilian casualties,” said one US official.
A senior US diplomat said earlier last week that Washington was speeding up arms supplies and bolstering intelligence sharing with the Saudi-led alliance. The Pentagon has said it is beginning aerial refueling of Arab coalition jets - although outside Yemeni airspace.
Until recent days, US intelligence support was limited to examining Saudi targeting information to try to affirm its accuracy, US and Saudi officials said. (Reuters; Al Arabiya)
