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By Ashraf Abdul Wahab.
Tripoli, 20 December:
Passengers on an Afriqiyah Airways flight from Benghazi that was coming in to land in Sebha were terrified . . .[restrict]yesterday, Wednesday, when the captain hit the throttle, aborted the landing and regained altitude. He had to take emergency action to ensure the safety of passengers and the aircraft, after seeing guns shooting into the air around the airport.
He landed the plane safely shortly afterwards.
The shooting is not thought to have been related to the precarious security situation in the southern town, but to a wedding.
This is the second time in a week that a pilot has had to take such action while landing at Sebha. Last Thursday, another pilot had to suddenly gain altitude after seeing guns being fired into the air.
Firing guns is a regular occurrence at weddings and other celebrations throughout the country. Attempts to clamp down on it and public campaigns against it have so far been fruitless, although many people have been injured and even killed by falling bullets. [/restrict]
