Portal:Maldives/Selected articles/6

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.)

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. (Full article...)