Ouvéa cave hostage taking
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The Ouvéa cave hostage taking occurred from 22 April 1988 to 5 May 1988 on the island of Ouvéa, New Caledonia, a south Pacific island under control of France. During the stand-off and seizure of a brigade of gendarmerie, members of an independence movement, the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front, killed four gendarmes (including two unarmed) and took 27 unarmed gendarmes hostages (weapons were in the armory during the night), later also taking hostage a public prosecutor who had been sent to negotiate, seven members of the French GIGN military unit and a regular army lieutenant. They demanded talks with the French government about independence for New Caledonia from France. In previous years, about ten gendarmes had been killed in New Caledonia in connection with the independence movement, also some Kanaks had been killed by policiers and gendarmes as well like Richard Kamuda in 1975, Théodore Daye in 1980, Eloi Machoro and Marcel Nonaro in 1985 and a young Kanak of the Saint-Louis tribe in 1987.[1]
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The French government said it refused to negotiate with terrorists or agree to the group's demands. It sent a joint hostage recovery team that consisted of:
- 12 from Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale (GIGN)
- 15 from Commando Hubert
- 30 from 11e régiment parachutiste de choc (covert unit part of the Directorate-General for External Security)
- 3 from Escadron Parachutiste d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale (EPIGN) [according to whom?]
Nineteen of the hostage-takers and two members of the hostage recovery team were killed in the assault. There were allegations that most of the dead hostage-takers had been summarily executed after being captured.
After having attacked the Gendarmes, the rebels retreated to a remote part of the island covered by deep jungle. Negotiations began between the government and hostage takers but were not effective. Some GIGN operators became hostages too as the government was trying to find a peaceful solution.[according to whom?]