Indonesian invasion of East Timor
The Indonesian invasion of East Timor, known in Indonesia as Operation Lotus (Indonesian: Operasi Seroja), began on 7 December 1975 when the Indonesian military (ABRI/TNI) invaded East Timor under the pretext of anti-colonialism and anti-communism to overthrow the Fretilin regime that had emerged in 1974. The overthrow of the popular and short-lived Fretilin-led government sparked a violent quarter-century occupation in which approximately 100,000–180,000 soldiers and civilians are estimated to have been killed or starved to death. The Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor documented a minimum estimate of 102,000 conflict-related deaths in East Timor throughout the entire period from 1974 to 1999, including 18,600 violent killings and 84,200 deaths from disease and starvation; Indonesian forces and their auxiliaries combined were responsible for 70% of the killings.
| Indonesian invasion of East Timor Operation Lotus | |||||||||
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| Part of the Cold War in Asia | |||||||||
East Timor map during the Indonesian invasion, Indonesian soldiers pose in November 1975 in Batugade, East Timor with a captured Portuguese flag. | |||||||||
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Indonesia
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| 35,000 | 20,000 | ||||||||
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| 1,000 killed, wounded or captured |
185,000+ killed, wounded or captured (1974–1999) (including civilians) | ||||||||
| History of East Timor |
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| Chronology |
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| Asia portal |
During the first months of the occupation, the Indonesian military faced heavy insurgency resistance in the mountainous interior of the island, but from 1977 to 1978, the military procured new advanced weaponry from the United States, and other countries, to destroy Fretilin's framework. The last two decades of the century saw continuous clashes between Indonesian and East Timorese groups over the status of East Timor, until 1999, when a majority of East Timorese voted overwhelmingly for independence (the alternative option being "special autonomy" while remaining part of Indonesia). After a further two and a half years of transition under the auspices of three different United Nations missions, East Timor achieved independence on 20 May 2002.