Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti, Saleh bin Fawzan Al-Fawzan, gave the war against Yemen’s Houthis an explicit religious framing: he addressed troops on the front line telling them to be ready to sacrifice their lives, citing Quranic verses and sayings of the prophet Muhammad on sacrifice, and prayed for the group’s “complete defeat,” Ynet News reports, which also notes that Saudi state television aired footage of what authorities described as a Houthi attack on a mosque in the kingdom’s south.

Riyadh accuses the group of attempting to strike Mecca, and the Houthis reject the accusation.