Operation Trisula

Operation Trisula
Part of the Indonesian mass killings of 1965–66
Trisula Monument in 2010
Date 1 June – 7 September 1968 (3 month, 1 week) Location South Blitar, East Java, Indonesia
Belligerents
Government of Indonesia TNI	PKI
Commanders and leaders
Soeharto Abdul Haris Nasution Witarmin Kartomo †	B.O. Hutapea †
Strength
5,000 troops Air support : 2 A-26 3 P-51 1 C-130 3 T-6 4 Mil Mi-4	Unknown
Casualties and losses
18 killed	33 killed 850 captured

Operation Trisula was an operation carried out by the Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI) in order to crush the remnants of the Communist Party of Indonesia who fled in the South Blitar area. The South Blitar area is very strategic as a hiding place for Communist Party of Indonesia leadership following the 1965-1966 crackdown against the party, because the area consists of steep cliffs and hills that are difficult for ground troops to reach. To carry out this operation, the Commander of the VIII/Brawijaya Military Regional Command formed an Operations Task Force Command called the Trisula Task Force on May 25, 1968, with the operational areas of South Blitar, South Malang and Tulungagung.^[1]