You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Arabia
AP reporter in Yemen: Flight cancelled for warfare
2015-03-20
[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

#3  At least it was warfare and not stinky bathrooms....
Posted by: USN, Ret.   2015-03-20 10:18  

#2  This is what the Lefties refuse to understand. The result of pulling down nationalism is not transnationalism, it's tribalism.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2015-03-20 09:40  

#1  Arabs have wars the way Italians have parties: "We were all over at Marcello's, and decided to invite the neighbors over and have a war."
Posted by: ed in texas   2015-03-20 07:37  

00:00