SANA, yemen — Flights from Sana International Airport were grounded Saturday after forces loyal to recently sacked air force head Gen. Mohamed Saleh al-Ahmar, half brother of former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, said they would target civilian planes in retaliation for his replacement.
The shuttering of Yemen’s primary international airport comes less than 24 hours after Yemeni President Abdo Rabbu Mansour Hadi announced a large-scale reshuffling of key civilian and military positions. In addition to making a number of changes in the Yemeni military — including replacing al-Ahmar — Hadi appointed new governors in four provinces.
Airport security officials said flights had been canceled since early Saturday morning, following an outburst of gunfire from the direction of the Dailami air force base, which lies adjacent to the airport.
By the afternoon, the scene at the airport was one of a tense calm. Surrounding roads remained open to traffic, and stranded travelers freely moved around the airport as they attempted to gather information about canceled flights. Many of those tasked with guarding the airport expressed their disbelief at the possibility of a renewed flare-up of violence.
“Mohamed Saleh is angry, so we all have to suffer,” said a soldier stationed at the airport, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “The idea of attacking civilian planes — it’s crazy.”
Hadi’s decrees were widely seen as a sign of the new president’s commitment to pushing forward substantive changes in Yemen and a move to allay worries that Hadi — Saleh’s deputy since 1994 — would be unable or unwilling to exert control over holdovers from his former boss’ regime.
Although his slew of proclamations was met with optimism, the closure of the airport underscored the difficulties facing Hadi as he embarks on the process of reforming Yemen’s military, divided between defected and loyalist units.
