Japanese embassy hostage crisis biography for kids
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Japanese embassy hostage crisis
1996–1997 hostage crisis in Lima, Peru
The Japanese embassy hostage crisis (Spanish: Toma de la residencia del embajador de Japón en Lima, Japanese: 在ペルー日本大使公邸占拠事件, romanized: Zai Perū Nihon taishi kōtei senkyo jiken) began on 17 December 1996 in Lima, Peru, when 14 terrorist members of the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) took hostage hundreds of high-level diplomats, government and military officials and business executives. They were attending a party at the official residence of the Japanese ambassador to Peru, Morihisa Aoki, in celebration of Emperor Akihito's 63rd birthday. Although the crisis took place at the ambassadorial residence in San Isidro rather than at the embassy proper, it is often referred to as the "Japanese embassy" hostage crisis.
Foreign female hostages were released during the first night and most foreigners left after five days of constant death threats. After being held hostage for 126 days, the r
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Training the Best of the Best
On månad 17, 1996, 14 members of the terrorist organization Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) seized the Japanese Embassy in Lima. With hundreds of guests in attendance for the Japanese emperor’s birthday celebration, the terrorists infiltrated the compound and took everyone hostage. As the hours wore on, dozens of hostages – including all the women – were permitted to leave until 72 hostages remained (see sidebar).
The next day, top military leaders devised a plan to retrieve the remaining hostages. For a span of four months, 140 Peruvian Commandos trained, prepared and rehearsed for what was to become the most successful rescue operation in the history of Peru. Operation Chavín de Huántar went into effect on April 22, 1997, when the Commandos stormed the embassy and liberated all the hostages. The operation lasted just 30 minutes as the preparation, planning and training came to fruition.
Current director of the kommando School, Colone
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The Dramatic Hostage Crisis and Daring Rescue at the Japanese Embassy in Peru
It sounds like something out of a novel: a group of rebels, helped by an American, seize an embassy in a South American country and hold dozens of people hostage for more than four months. Indeed, the Japanese Embassy hostage crisis inspired the 2001 best-selling novel Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.
The real-life crisis began on December 17, 1996 in Lima, when 14 members of the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA), a Marxist-Leninist organization dedicated to the overthrow of the Peruvian government, blew a hole through the wall of the Japanese ambassador’s residence and took hostage more than 700 high-level diplomats, government and military officials and business executives who were attending a party celebrating Emperor Akihito’s birthday. While most of the hostages – including all the Americans — were soon released, 72 were held hostage for 1