Muhammad Al Shaalan
Native name
محمد الشعلان
Birth nameMuhammad bin Ahmed Al Shaalan
DiedJune 2015
Allegiance Saudi Arabia
Service/branch Royal Saudi Air Force
Rank Lieutenant general
Commands heldRoyal Saudi Air Force
Battles/warsSaudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen

Muhammad bin Ahmed Al Shaalan (Arabic: محمد بن أحمد بن عبدالرحمن الشعلان; died June 2015) was a Saudi military officer and commander of the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) from 2014 up until his death in Saudi Arabia. Al Shaalan was initially reported to have died from a heart attack outside the country by the Ministry of Defense, during the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in the Yemeni civil war.[1] In early June 2015, several Scud missiles were fired by the Houthis from Yemen and hit King Khalid Air Base, which serves as the center of the Saudi air campaign against them; he was killed in the missile attack.[2][3] Al Shaalan was from a tribal family that spans Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and southern Iraq.[4]

References

  1. ^ "Saudi Air Force commander dies of heart attack". The Nation. 12 June 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2020. "Meanwhile, an informed source in rejected the reports that Lt Gen Muhammad bin Ahmed al-Shaalan died of a heart attack, saying the General was killed in Yemen's missile attacks", "an informed Yemeni source who called for anonymity said in New York on Wednesday that "Shaalan was killed in the Yemeni army's missile attacks against Saudi Arabia's Khamees al-Mushait region five days earlier".
  2. ^ Asher Orkaby.(24 June 2015). Doomed: Saudi Arabia Will Fail in Yemen. National Interest. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  3. ^ "DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism, Security". Retrieved 13 July 2015. Riyadh concealed the circumstances of the air chief's death to avoid affecting the morale of Saudi combatants taking part in the Yemen war.
  4. ^ Karasik, Theodore (18 May 2014). Hagel and the GCC: Partnership and a Saudi military sweep. Al Arabiya. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
Military offices Preceded byLt. Gen. Fayyadh Al Ruwaili Commander of the Royal Saudi Air Force 2014—2015 Succeeded byMaj. Gen. Abdullah bin Ibrahim Al Ghamdi (acting)
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