A hard-hitting video advertisement of a suicide bomber being challenged by victims of terrorism has gone viral in the Middle East.

Kuwaiti telecom company Zain launched the TV ad on Saturday at the start of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Muslim calendar, in an effort to counter terrorism.

Since then, the three minute music video has been viewed nearly 2.4 million times on YouTube.

The opening scenes show a man manufacturing a suicide belt, with the voice of a child challenging him.

“You’ve filled the cemeteries with our children and emptied our school desks,” a young girl is heard saying.

Zain, a regional mobile operator with more than 45 million customers, did not respond to requests for comment.

But the message of the company’s ad is unmistakeable.

“Worship your God with love, with love not terror,” sings Hussain Al Jassmi, an Emirati star famous in the region for singing in a range of Arabic dialects. “Be tender in your faith, gentle not harsh. Confront your enemy, with peace not war.”