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Living in Cyprus: The Battle of Larnaca Airport

In an attempt at ending a hostage situation at Larnaca airport in Cyprus, on 19 February 1978, Egyptian special forces tried to intervene. What followed was a bloodbath in which Fifteen Egyptian Commandos were killed by Cypriot forces.

The crisis began when the editor of an Egyptian newspaper, Youssef Sebai, was assassinated at the Nicosia Hilton by two PLO gunmen. The gunmen then took hostage several Arabs attending a convention in Nicosia before demanding an aircraft to fly them out of the country. The Cypriot government bowed to the gunmen’s demands and the killers were allowed to leave the island with 11 hostages including Egyptians, in a Cyprus Airlines plane. However, the aircraft was forced to return to the island and land after other countries in the area of the eastern Mediterranean refused to allow it to land.

The Cypriot Government then permitted an Egyptian military C-130 Hercules to fly into Larnaca, but gave strict instructions to the Egyptians not to interfere. Just at the point where negotiations were bearing fruit, Egyptian commandos launched an all-out assault on the DC8 aircraft. What followed was a fifty minute battle in which the Egyptian C-130 was destroyed and fifteen Egyptian commandos were killed.

The two terrorists were extradited back to Egypt and sentenced to death at their trial, though this was later commuted to life sentences. Egypt and Cyprus severed political ties for several years after the incident.

Tom Kane (c) 2017

If you like the idea of living in Cyprus, read the books first! Click on any picture to see the book on Amazon.

        

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Living in Cyprus: The Battle of Larnaca Airport

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