Special Forces commando burns an MRTA flag during Operation Chavín de Huantar

A Special Forces (FFEE) commando of the Armed Forces burns an MRTA flag during the Chavín de Huantar operation, carried out on April 22, 1997, through which 72 hostages who had been held captive for 136 days at the residence of Japanese Ambassador Morihisa Aoki were freed following the takeover perpetrated by the MRTA on December 17, 1996. During the rescue, two Army officers, Supreme Court Justice Carlos Giusti, and 14 MRTA members responsible for the kidnapping died. The results of forensic examinations conducted during the prosecutorial investigation suggest that Eduardo Nicolás Cruz Sánchez, known as "comrade Tito," was extrajudicially executed after the confrontation, when he was already in the custody of military personnel and had laid down his arms. The investigation into the alleged extrajudicial execution of other MRTA members remains pending.