Operation Trishul ( ''Triśūla'', lit. "Operation

Trident A trident (), () is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. As compared to an ordinary spear, the three tines increase the chance that a fish will be struck and decrease the chance that a fish will b ...

"), along with

Operation Viraat Operation Viraat ( ''Virāṭa'', lit. "Operation Giant"), along with Operation Trishul, was an anti-insurgency operation launched by the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in April 1988 in t ...

, was an anti-insurgency operation launched by the

Indian Peace Keeping Force Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990. It was formed under the mandate of the 1987 Indo-Sri Lankan Accord that aimed to end the Sri Lanka ...

(IPKF) against the

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; , ; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization, that was based in the northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eela ...

(LTTE) in April 1988 in Northern Province of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, in the

Elephant Pass Elephant Pass (; ) is a region located at the gateway of the Jaffna Peninsula in the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It lies about 340 km north of the capital. It has an important military base and used to be the island's largest salt field. ...

and the districts of

Mannar Mannar may refer to the following places: India * Mannar, Alappuzha, a town in Chengannur Taluk, Kerala Sri Lanka * Mannar District, one of 25 districts in Sri Lanka ** Mannar Island, an island within the district ** Mannar Bridge, a bridge conne ...

Mullaitivu Mullaitivu (; ) is the main town of Mullaitivu District, situated on the north-eastern coast of Northern Province, Sri Lanka. A largely fishing settlement, the town in the early twentieth century grew as an anchoring harbour of the small sailing ...

and

Vavuniya Vavuniya (, ) is a city in Vavuniya District in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. The municipality is administered by an Municipal Council. The town has been known since ancient times, but being a heavily forested area, less than 100,000 people ...

. The operation was planned as a result of the evolving doctrine among the Indian high command of conducting

search and destroy Seek and destroy (also known as search and destroy, or S&D) is a military strategy which consists of inserting infantry forces into hostile territory and directing them to search and then attack enemy targets before immediately withdrawing. Fi ...

missions against LTTE strongholds instead of holding key strongpoints.

References

{{coord missing, Sri Lanka 1988 in Sri Lanka 20th-century conflicts

Trishul Trishul may refer to: Film *Trishul (film), ''Trishul'' (film), a 1978 Hindi film starring Sanjeev Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan *Trisulam (film), ''Trisulam'' (film), a 1982 Telugu film starring Krishnam Raju and Sridevi Military *Trishul (missile) ...

1988 in India