On her 25th birthday... the story of a Moroccan woman who left life before her trip to her country following the Abha airport attack

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In a tragedy that sums up the cruelty of wars and the human tragedies they leave behind, the return trip of the young Moroccan woman, Ahlam Bouken, to her homeland became her last stop, after she was killed following the attack on Abha International Airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia, in an incident that coincided, according to what was reported by the Moroccan press, with her celebration of her twenty-fifth birthday.

The details of her story, which were revealed by the Moroccan newspaper Hespress, citing an informed source, once again highlighted the civilian victims who find themselves in danger due to Houthi attacks, even in places that are supposed to be designated for safe travel and movement.

According to the details published by Hespress, Ahlam, who is from the Moroccan city of Sidi Kacem, was preparing to leave Abha towards Jeddah, and then continue her journey to Casablanca. However, the attack that targeted the airport with a Houthi drone occurred before she boarded the plane, while she was in the waiting hall. The source quoted by the newspaper reported that she was fatally injured by shrapnel, and she died before she could complete her journey to Morocco.

The cruelty of the tragedy lies in the fact that the day of her death coincided with her twenty-fifth birthday, according to the same source, a detail that made her story receive widespread attention in the Moroccan press, because of the painful paradox it carries between the beginning of a new year of her life and its sudden end.

In a later development, the media announced that the body of the young Moroccan woman was buried on Sunday morning, where funeral prayers were held over her in the Grand Mosque in Mecca, before she was buried in the Al-Muala Cemetery.

Pictures and a video clip showed the ceremony of transporting the body, and local media indicated that the burial took place in Mecca, in the presence of employees from the Moroccan consulate as part of keeping up with the procedures related to the funeral.

Thus, Ahlam's story is no longer just news about a Moroccan victim in an attack targeting a civilian facility; Rather, it became the story of a young woman who was preparing to return to her family, before her journey ended tragically far from her city.

The Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation announced, in a statement issued on Wednesday, October 7, the death of two residents of Moroccan and Algerian nationalities as a result of the attack on Abha International Airport, in addition to the injury of 28 citizens and residents, including two injured of Bangladeshi and Filipino nationalities.

The statement stated that the injuries ranged from minor to severe, and that the injured were transferred to hospitals to receive the necessary medical care, while material damage was caused to the airport facilities.

In a separate incident targeting King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh during the same period, a Sudanese resident died and eight other people were injured, according to the Saudi Authority.

The Houthi group claimed responsibility for the attacks, and the details of Ahlam Buken's death reveal another aspect of the repercussions of the group's attacks. Behind the data on losses and injuries, there are families receiving news they were not prepared to hear, and Ahlam who, according to the published story, were only waiting to complete their journey to their homeland.

Between Abha, Mecca, and Sidi Kacem, the chapters of the tragedy of a young Moroccan woman whose life ended before she reached her destination extended, leaving behind a painful story of an unfinished journey, and a birthday that turned into a memory of loss.