1988 Maldives coup attempt
| 1988 Maldives coup d'état attempt | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Indian Intervention in the Sri Lankan civil war | |||||||
Indian Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 planes like this one were used in Cactus. (This image was taken at an unrelated location in Hawaii, United States decades after 1988.) | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
|
India Maldives |
People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam Maldivian rebels | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
R. Venkataraman Rajiv Gandhi Vice-Admiral S.V.V. Gopalachari Brigadier Farouk Bulsara Colonel Subhash Joshi Maumoon Abdul Gayoom Maj (later Brig) Rupinder Dhillon Maj (later Lt Gen) Vinod Bhatia |
Uma Maheswaran Wasanti † Abdullah Luthufi (POW) Sagaru Ahmed Nasir (POW) Ahmed Ismail Manik Sikka (POW) | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
500 Indian paratroopers Maldivian National Security Service | 80–100 gunmen | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 19 killed (8 NSS), 39 injured (18 NSS). 4 hostage killed, 3 hostage unaccounted for | Most of the mercenaries were killed and some were captured. 27 hostage taken, 20 were retrieved. 4 killed and the other 3 unknown. | ||||||
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The 1988 Maldives coup d'état attempt was by a group of Sri Lankans and Maldivians led by businessman Abdullah Luthufee and assisted by armed mercenaries of a Tamil secessionist organization from Sri Lanka, the People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), to overthrow the government in the island republic of Maldives. The attempt was thwarted with Indian assistance in Operation Cactus.