India used Airforce to attack it's own people

icekid

New Member
This article claims that India is the only country to use air raids against it's own citizens, but I heard Sri Lanka used air raids against LTTE. Can someone tell me if any other country did something like this. And also can someone please give me information on Toofani fighters I googled it without any luck.


http://www.defenceaviation.com/2009/04/india-bombed-its-own-citizens.html

On the afternoon of March 4 1966, a squadron of jet fighters hovered over Aizawl and dropped bombs leaving a number of houses in flames and number of people dead. The next day, more excessive bombing took place for several hours which left most houses in Dawrpui and Chhingaveng area in ashes and hundreds were killed. According to local records, Hunter and Toofani fighters were deployed for the Aizawl bombardment, which became the first and only aerial attack a country had carried out against its own people. In the first wave of attack the planes used machine guns and later on used bombs. The attack came in three waves, on the second day the attack lasted for about five hours. The fighters came from Tezpur, an IAF air base in Assam. Apart from Aizawl, Tualbung and Hnahlan villages in northeast Mizoram were bombarded. The great and powerful Indian Government a terror to Pakistan and a threat to China on March 5, 1966 used Jet Fighters, something they had never done against China and Pakistan, bombed it's own people.
 

Ananda

The Bunker Group
I think a lot of countries with internal insurgencies problem used their Air Force or Army Air Wing to involve in counter insurgencies (COIN) activities. Most Third world countries in some time already involve on this.

The policy is not attacking the civilian but attacking the rebels/insurgences/criminals or whatever the respective governments wants to call them. However like any war, the civilans 'collateral damages' will happen..well if kind like US, European/Nato, or Russian can't prevent collateral damages then any third world countries that conduct COIN operations will certainly will have them also.

Anyway if you check any countries that have specialize COIN aircraft like us (Indonesia), Thailand, Philipines, Colombia, and many Latin American or African countries..then ussually it's sign that some time in the course of their history...they have problems or potential with internal insurgencies. Most COIN aircraft comes in the form of Armed Turboprop trainers (like Tucanos, Pilatus) or specialized ones like OV 10.
 

Feanor

Super Moderator
Staff member
Well there is the part where Russia bomber Chechnya into sawdust..... so I guess India isn't all that unique.
 

swerve

Super Moderator
IIRC Toofan means Hurricane, which in French is Ouragan.

An incomplete list of countries which have used aircraft against rebels in their own country in the last 50 years:
Myanmar
Indonesia
Sri Lanka
Afghanistan
Iraq
Sudan
Ethiopia
Nigeria
Angola
Nicaragua
Colombia
Turkey
Russia
 

funtz

New Member
some more articles and reports on the topic, at least better than the blogs and wiki that the original piece refers to
http://www.indopia.in/India-usa-uk-news/latest-news/84029/National/1/20/1

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/n...greet_vice_president_in_Mizoram _Second_Lead_

Selection of the Dassault Ouragan fighter from France at this time reflected the decision to initiate diversification of supply sources. The first four of over 100 Ouragans, or Toofanis as they were to become known in the IAF, reached Palam from France on 24 October 1953, and this type re-equipped Nos.8, 3 and 4 Squadrons in that order. The Toofanis were eventually to be passed on to newly-raised units Nos. 29 and 47 Squadrons, with the re-equipment in 1957 of Nos. 3 and 8 Squadrons with the Mystere IVA from the same Gallic stable.
http://indianairforce.nic.in/show_page.php?pg_id=98
 
Last edited:
Top