- Egyptian raid on Larnaca International Airport
On
19 February 1978 , Egyptian forces raidedLarnaca International Airport nearLarnaca ,Cyprus in an attempt to intervene in a hijacking situation. Earlier, two assassins had killed prominentEgypt ian newspaper editor Youssef Sebai and then rounded up several Arabs who were attending a convention inNicosia as hostages.cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=1978: Egyptian forces die in Cyprus gunfight | date=1978-02-19 | publisher= | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/19/newsid_2565000/2565701.stm | work =BBC | pages = | accessdate = 2008-02-02 | language = ] As Cypriot forces were trying to negotiate with the hostage-takers at the airport, Egyptian troops decided to launch their own assault without authorization from the Cypriots. The unauthorized raid led to the Egyptians and the Cypriots exchanging gunfire, killing or injuring more than 20 of the Egyptian commandos. As a result, Egypt and Cyprus severed political ties for several years after the incident.Hijacking
In the late hours of
18 February 1978 , Youssef Sebai, editor of a prominentEgypt ian newspaper and a friend of theEgyptian President ,Anwar Sadat , wasassassinated by two gunmen at a convention being held at theNicosia Hilton. The two assassins rounded up 16 Arab convention delegates as hostages (among them, two P.L.O. representatives and one Egyptian national) and demanded transportation toLarnaca International Airport . They also demanded and were supplied with aCyprus Airways DC-8 aircraft (c/n 45303/141 N99862). Following negotiations with the Cypriot authorities, thehijackers were allowed to fly the aircraft out of Cyprus with 11 hostages and four crew members. The aircraft, however, was denied permission to land inDjibouti ,Syria andSaudi Arabia and was forced to return and land inCyprus a few hours later.According to a report in "Time magazine", the Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, was aggrieved by the assassination of his personal friend and begged the Cypriot President,
Spyros Kyprianou to rescue the hostages and extradite the terrorists to Cairo. [cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Murder and Massacre on Cyprus | date=Monday, Mar. 06, 1978 | publisher= | url =http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,915969-2,00.html | work =Time Magazine | pages = | accessdate = 2007-10-23 | language = ] The Cypriot President responded by promising to oversee the rescue operation and any negotiations personally, and travelled to the airport himself. According to the same report however, Sadat dispatched an elite antiterrorism unit (Task Force 777) to Cyprus aboard a C-130HHercules transport aircraft. Cairo merely informed Kyprianou that "people are on the way to help rescue the hostages" and did not reveal who was on board nor what their intentions wereFact|date=February 2008. Upon landing in Cyprus the Egyptian force immediately launched an all out assault, dispatching a singleJeep all-terrain vehicle with three men to race ahead of an estimated 58 troops (another report has this figure at 74 [ cite web|url=http://www.aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19780219-1 |title=Criminal Occurrence description |accessdate=2008-02-02 |date=1978-02-19 |publisher=Aviation Safety Network ] ) moving towards the hijacked aircraft on foot.Egyptian raid
As the
Egypt ian troops advanced quickly towards thehijacked DC-8 aircraft and theCypriot National Guard forces who surrounded it, the Cypriot forces reportedly issued a single verbal warning to halt and submit, though in other reports, the Cypriots issued two verbal warnings, the second a demand for the Egyptians to return to their aircraft. As this occurred, the occupants of the Jeep and the Cypriot National Guardsmen exchanged gunfire, and the Egyptian Jeep was struck by arocket propelled grenade (RPG), as well as gunfire, killing all three occupants. As the vehicle came to a halt, theCypriots and the main Egyptian force confronted each other at a range of less than convert|300|m|yd, and it is variously reported that the Egyptians, who lacked any form of cover, dropped down onto the tarmac in prone firing positions. At this moment, the two forces engaged each other with heavy gunfire, and the Cypriots opened fire on the Egyptian C-130H aircraft with a 106 mm anti-tank missile, striking it in the nose and killing all three crew on board.With their aircraft destroyed, the Egyptian force and the Cypriot National Guard exchanged heavy gunfire for nearly an hour in sporadic fighting on the open tarmac. Some of the Egyptian troops toke cover in a nearby empty
Air France aircraft.Cypriot President Spyros Kyprianou, who was watching the events unfolding from the airport control tower, was forced to withdraw from the windows and take cover as Egyptian commandos struck the tower with automatic gunfire.
Aftermath
Of the Egyptian commando force, 12 men were killed, in addition to three crew of the C-130H Hercules transport aircraft who were killed when it was struck by a missile. An estimated 15 more Egyptian commandos were reported to have been taken injured to
Larnaca General Hospital with gunshot wounds. Several people from the Cyprus National Guard were killed although their number is unknown.Following the assault, it emerged that the surrender of the two hostage-takers had already been secured at the time of the failed Egyptian attack, and the two men were taken prisoner by the Cypriots and later extradited to
Egypt , where they received death sentences, later commuted to life sentences.On the 20th of February, Egypt recalled its diplomatic mission and requested the Cyprus government to do the same in Cairo. Cyprus requested the withdrawal of Egypt's military attaché. [cite news | first=David | last=Watts | coauthors= | title=Angry Egyptians call envoys home as Cyprus dispute grows | date=Tuesday, Feb 21, 1978 | publisher= | url =http://www.galeuk.com/times/ | work =
The Times Digital Archive | pages =pg. 1; Issue 60242; col F | accessdate = 2008-05-02 | language = ]Egypt andCyprus severed political ties for several years after the incident, until President Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1981. President Kyprianou offered reconciliation and apologies but maintained that Cyprus could not have allowed the Egyptians to act. Other Arab countries such as Syria an Libya denounced Egypt's action. [cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Cyprus raid denounced by Libya and Syria | date=Tuesday, Feb 21, 1978 | publisher= | url =http://www.galeuk.com/times/ | work =The Times Digital Archive | pages =pg. 6; Issue 60242; col D | accessdate = 2008-05-02 | language = ]References
ources
*BBC ON THIS DAY | 19 | 1978: Egyptian forces die in Cyprus gunfight: http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/19/newsid_2565000/2565701.stm
*TIME: Murder and Massacre on Cyprus: 06 March 1978: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,915969,00.html?promoid=googlep
*http://www.aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19780219-1
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