Operation Cactus

Operation Cactus

The 1988 Maldives Coup, whose rescue efforts were code named "Operation Cactus" by the Indian armed forces was an attempt by a group of Maldivian insurgents, led by Abdullah Luthufi and assisted by about 80 armed mercenaries of a Sri Lankan secessionist organisation, People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), to overthrow the government of the island republic of Maldives.

The mercenaries gained control of the capital they failed to capture President Gayoom, who fled from house to house and asked for military intervention from India, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi immediately dispatched 1,600 troops by air to restore order in Malé. Indian paratroopers arrived on Hulhule, causing some of the mercenaries to flee toward Sri Lanka in a hijacked freighter. The operation started on the night of November 3, 1988, as the Indian Air Force airlifted a parachute battalion group from Agra and flew them non-stop over 2,000 kilometres (1,240 mi) to Maldives. The Indian paratroopers landed at Hulhule and secured the airfield and restored the Government rule at Malé within hours. The operation also strengthened Indo-Maldivian relations as a result of the successful restoration of the Gayoom government