Egyptian raid on Larnaca International Airport | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Cypriot National Guard | |||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
15 commandos killed 3 members of the C-130 crew killed 15 commandos wounded 1 C-130 aircraft destroyed 1 jeep all-terrain vehicle destroyed |
Unknown. | ||||||
Both hijackers surrender. |
On 19 February 1978, Egyptian special forces raided Larnaca International Airport near Larnaca, Cyprus, in an attempt to intervene in a hijacking. Earlier, two assassins had killed prominent Egyptian newspaper editor Youssef Sebai and then rounded up as hostages several Arabs who were attending a convention in Nicosia. As Cypriot forces were trying to negotiate with the hostage-takers at the airport, Egyptian troops launched 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.
In the late hours of 18 February 1978, Youssef Sebai, editor of a prominent Egyptian newspaper and a friend of the Egyptian President, Anwar Sadat, was assassinated by two gunmen at a convention being held at the Nicosia 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 to Larnaca International Airport. They also demanded and were supplied with a Cyprus Airways DC-8 aircraft (c/n 45303/141 N99862). Following negotiations with the Cypriot authorities, the hijackers were allowed to fly the aircraft out of Cyprus with 11 hostages and four crew members. The aircraft, however, was denied permission to land in Djibouti, Syria and Saudi Arabia and was forced to return and land in Cyprus a few hours later.