Operation Trishul ( sa, त्रिशूल ''Triśūla'', lit. "Operation Trishul"), along with

Operation Viraat Operation Viraat ( sa, विराट ''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) ...

, was an anti-insurgency operation launched by the

IPKF 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 Lank ...

against the LTTE in April 1988 in Northern Sri Lanka, in the provinces of Maannar to

Mullaitivu Mullaitivu ( ta, முல்லைத்தீவு, translit=Mullaittīvu; si, මූලදූව, translit=Mūladūva) is the main town of Mullaitivu District, situated on the north-eastern coast of Northern Province, Sri Lanka. A largely ...

and

Elephant Pass Elephant Pass, (, si, අලිමංකඩ Alimankada) Northern Province, Sri Lanka is located in the gateway of Jaffna Peninsula. It lies about 340 km north from capital. It has an important military base and used to be the island's larg ...

Vavuniya Vavuniya (, romanized: ''Vavuṉiyā'', , romanized: ''Vavuniyāva''). Vavuniya City is the capital of Vavuniya District in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka and the largest city in the Northern Province. The municipality is administered by Va ...

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

search and destroy Search and destroy, seek and destroy, or simply S&D is a military strategy best known for its employment in the Malayan Emergency and the Vietnam War. The strategy consists of inserting ground forces into hostile territory, ''search''ing out ...

missions against LTTE strongholds instead of holding key strongpoints.

References

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