Start of Operation Aries
On April 5, 1994, Operation Aries was launched, a counter-subversive military operation in the Cuchara and Primavera pockets of the Upper Huallaga to dismantle the last bastions of the Shining Path. The operation involved approximately 2,000 military troops with air support and was suspended on May 26, 1994 after allegations of human rights violations.
Operation Aries was a counter-subversive military operation carried out by the Peruvian armed forces that began on April 5, 1994 on the left bank of the Huallaga River. The operation was carried out in two phases (April-May and June-July 1994) with the objective of dismantling the last Shining Path strongholds in the Cuchara and Primavera pockets. Approximately 2,000 military personnel from special commandos trained specifically for this mission participated, with the support of helicopter gunships. The operation began with aerial bombardments and rocket attacks, followed by the entry of ground forces from four different fronts. The operation was supervised by General Nicolás Hermoza Ríos and President Alberto Fujimori, and had to be stopped definitively on May 26, 1994 due to serious allegations of human rights violations presented by the National Human Rights Coordinator.