Battle of Uripuripu (1991)

''This article is about the seizure of a Karatanez base in Uripuripu in 1991. For the engagement during the Koxoriek War of Independence, see Battle of Dakhatan.''

The Battle of Uripuripu (Koxori: Ejokh Uripuripur) is the name popularly given to Operation Dawn Whirlwind, a military operation undertaken by the Koxoriek Falcon Division in November 1991 against the Karatanez terrorist group.

Background
After a bombing of Koxoriek Airlines Flight 103 in March 1990, an investigation was begun into the causes of the attack. The bomb was linked to a man called Athsar Damani, a member of a group known as Khandamar. In July 1990, six Khandamar members were arrested in an assault on Damani's residence in Ghazva, during which Damani was later revealed to have been killed. The six terrorists gave information to TET1 (Thanekh Ejoxmouryr Tarjanthiek 1), the highest office of the Koxoriek military intelligence service, and implicated the Karatanez group in funding the attack. The original Karatanez group had been formed in 1920 during the Koxoriek Revolution as the religious division of the revolutionaries and officially dissolved in 1921, but some of its members had continued to use the name to protest against the policies put into place by the new democratic government. By 1990, the group was thought to have been long dormant, but the group had secretly risen in popularity in the 1980s and amassed a large following.

After a second terrorist attack in early 1991 – a shooting at a supermarket in Hamezurakhel – was linked to the Karatanez, TET1 and the Koxoriek Army began preparations to take action against the group. In May 1991, soldiers of the Falcon Division (Tarjantha Upeliryr, TU) were recalled from the front lines of the Alapet War to prepare for a full attack on the Karatanez base near the town of Tarandakh, six miles from Uripuripu. Plans for Operation Dawn Whirlwind were finalised by 20 November, and 230 TU fighters travelled to Uripuripu.

Initial situation
The Karatanez complex was situated at the base of a hill to the north of Tarandakh and surrounded by woodland on three sides. TU fighters set up bases of operations both at the top of the hill and in the valley below the complex, where six Dakhandur heavy cannon guns were set up. Additionally, a Mankhanda DaN-90 helicopter was equipped with Asatokh Jet aerial cannons for the battle. The initial positions of the Karatanez soldiers are unknown, but there were at least 20 defenders situated on the walls of the compound.

Attack
The attack began at 10:12 KST on 23 November, with 100 TU soldiers marching up the hill and firing on the compound with their semi-automatic Riley assault rifles. All three Karatanez deaths were inflicted in this initial stage of the attack. The helicopter then took off and began firing on the compound, but did not do much damage as the enemy fighters took shelter in buildings. At 11:04, the Dakhandur guns were ordered to fire on the walls, and the shells dealt significant damage to the concrete perimeter. At 11:20 and 11:23, two TET-grade attack bombs were detonated: a pulse-mine was used to breach the outer perimeter fence, and a guided shell was fired from a Dakhandur gun to fully breach the concrete walls. At this point, around 24 Karatanez soldiers rushed out of the breach in the walls, firing in all directions. Many of them ran out of ammunition quickly and were captured by TU soldiers; others tried to flee until they were stopped by Koxoriek bullets. An unknown number managed to escape the battle and flee to the north. At 11:35, an open assault on the compound was ordered, and the second phase of the attack began. Koxoriek troops entered the complex itself through the breach in the walls, where they were met by Karatanez gunfire. However, the enemy troops were largely untrained, and the small group of fighters who had fired on the Koxoriez were quickly overpowered and captured. The TU soldiers then split into three groups, with one entering the main building of the compound and the others searching the smaller buildings around it. The first group faced some resistance from a group of armed Karatanez inside the main building before overpowering and capturing them. By midday, the complex had been fully secured by the Koxoriek Army. Soon afterward, the Karatanez flag was symbolically lowered and the Koxoriek flag raised. The high-alert warning given to the TU soldiers before the attack was ended at 12:15, officially ending the attack.

Aftermath
Soon after the end of the battle, selected footage filmed during it was broadcast on KTI, the main Koxoriek news network. Over the following days, TET1 and TET2 sent investigators to the site to search the complex for any useful information on the group. The Karatanez had shredded much of the information during the battle, making investigation harder, but the shredded pieces were sent to a specialist division of TET1 for reconstruction. Intelligence gained, both from material evidence found in the base and from interrogation of captured fighters, revealed that the Karatanez had received funding from the Ghazvan military government, leading to renewed efforts in the Alapet War.

Ikhatek Suri, who had been captured during the battle, was eventually revealed to be the Karatanek director of operations in eastern Koxor. His trial took place in January 1992 and was widely televised. Initially sentenced to death, Suri successfully applied for a reprieve in 1994 and was given life in prison. He died in Olatari Maximum Security Prison in 2019.