Ouvéa cave hostage taking
Encyclopedia
The Ouvéa cave hostage taking was an event occurring from April 22, 1988 to May 5, 1988 in which members of the separatist group the National Union for Independence-Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front took 27 including a French gendarme and a judge hostage in the island of Ouvéa
, New Caledonia
demanding instant independence of New Caledonia from France.
The French government refused to negotiate and give in to the groups demands and sent a joint hostage recovery team that consisted of:
The hostages had been located in the Gossannah cave, a series of caves on the Ouvéa Island. The assault team moved into their final assault positions roughly 300 metres parallel from the cave entrance.
The Commando Hubert operators were tasked to neutralise the AA52 7.5mm medium machine gun which was located at the entrance to the cave and would pin down any approaching force and increase the risk of the hostages being harmed. The 11e Choc were to neutralise the other Kanak positions located to the south. A joint GIGN and Commando Hubert team would approach the entrance to the cave where the hostage were located. The attack started at 0615 hours and the assault teams realised they were in the wrong position than they should have been. A Puma helicopter was supposed to provide a noise distraction was three minutes late and three hundred metres off target. As a result the separatists were pre-warned of the assault and had time to pull back inside the caves. Some Kanak sentries spotted the approaching assault team who had moved too far North than they should have and opened fire wounding a Commando Hubert operator. Another operator shot and killed the sentry that had fired.
Another assault force member was killed as they crossed the open ground in front of the cave. The Commando Hubert team cleared a fifty-metre area in front of the machine gun position with flame throwers.
The hostages managed to escape in the confusion, and the Kanak group surrendered but at the end of the assault : Nineteen hostage-takers and two members of the military were killed. According to the Chevènement Report : "Some acts of barbary have been committed by the French military in contradiction with their military duty". In several autopsies, it appeared that most of the Kanak activists had been executed and the leader of the hostage-takers, Alphonse Dianou, who was severely injured via being shot in the leg, had been left without medical care and died a couple hours later.
Ouvéa
Ouvéa is a commune in the Loyalty Islands Province of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The settlement of Fayaoué , on Ouvéa Island, is the administrative centre of the commune of Ouvéa. -Geography:...
, New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
demanding instant independence of New Caledonia from France.
The French government refused to negotiate and give in to the groups demands and sent a joint hostage recovery team that consisted of:
- 12 GIGN
- 15 Commando HubertNaval commandos (France)The Naval Commandos are the special forces of the French Navy. They are made up of ~500 members, mostly based in northwestern France , with several bases across the country for specific training needs. The Naval Commandos are nicknamed bérets verts . Their qualification training is one of the...
- 30 11th Shock Parachutist Regiment11e régiment parachutiste de chocThe 11e régiment parachutiste de choc , often called 11e choc, was a parachute elite regiment of the French Army. It used to serve as the armed branch of the SDECE. Its insignia, designed by lieutenant Dupas, features Bagheera in the moonlight and a golden wing...
;(covert unit part of the DGSE) - 3 EPIGN
The Assault
The assault "Operation Victor" was initiated on the 4th of May at around 2200 hours. Around seventy-four operators moved into the forest towards the hostage location. The rebels numbered around 30, and were well armed.The hostages had been located in the Gossannah cave, a series of caves on the Ouvéa Island. The assault team moved into their final assault positions roughly 300 metres parallel from the cave entrance.
The Commando Hubert operators were tasked to neutralise the AA52 7.5mm medium machine gun which was located at the entrance to the cave and would pin down any approaching force and increase the risk of the hostages being harmed. The 11e Choc were to neutralise the other Kanak positions located to the south. A joint GIGN and Commando Hubert team would approach the entrance to the cave where the hostage were located. The attack started at 0615 hours and the assault teams realised they were in the wrong position than they should have been. A Puma helicopter was supposed to provide a noise distraction was three minutes late and three hundred metres off target. As a result the separatists were pre-warned of the assault and had time to pull back inside the caves. Some Kanak sentries spotted the approaching assault team who had moved too far North than they should have and opened fire wounding a Commando Hubert operator. Another operator shot and killed the sentry that had fired.
Another assault force member was killed as they crossed the open ground in front of the cave. The Commando Hubert team cleared a fifty-metre area in front of the machine gun position with flame throwers.
The hostages managed to escape in the confusion, and the Kanak group surrendered but at the end of the assault : Nineteen hostage-takers and two members of the military were killed. According to the Chevènement Report : "Some acts of barbary have been committed by the French military in contradiction with their military duty". In several autopsies, it appeared that most of the Kanak activists had been executed and the leader of the hostage-takers, Alphonse Dianou, who was severely injured via being shot in the leg, had been left without medical care and died a couple hours later.
See also
- List of hostage crises
- Bernard PonsBernard PonsBernard Pons was a French politician and medical doctor who was a member of the Union of Democrats for the Republic from 1971 to 1976 and a member of the Rally for the Republic party thereafter...
, French Minister for Overseas Territories at the time, who dealt with the matter.