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AP reporter in Yemen: Flight cancelled for warfare
[UTSANDIEGO] Then the captain's voice came over the intercom: "Will passengers please leave the aircraft immediately."No one moved. "Will passengers please leave the aircraft, the airport has been closed," he said, more commanding this time. Many still did not leave. "You must disembark now," a flight attendant barked. As I and the around 150 other passengers left the aircraft and made our way back to the terminal, it became clear why. Bursts of heavy machine gunfire and kabooms were frequent and near. Watching from the departure hall, we saw two armored pickup trucks mounted with machine guns speed onto the tarmac and open fire at targets somewhere to the east. These were police special forces loyal to former president President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... who had stormed the airport, trying to capture control from forces of Evil and troops loyal to the current president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. We were caught in what would become an hours-long battle, part of the bigger conflict tearing apart this chaotic, impoverished nation. Posted by: Fred 2015-03-20 |
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