For the 72 men held hostage in the Japanese ambassador's mansion in Lima, Peru, last Tuesday began as just another long, hot day. It was the 126th day of a tense standoff between the government of Peru and rebels belonging to the T&uaccute;pac Amaru Revolutionary Movement. Then boom! In a burst of explosions and gunfire, an army raid began. In less than half an hour, 71 men were free. One hostage, two soldiers and all 14 terrorists were killed in the surprise raid.
As bullets flew, specially trained soldiers stormed the front, back and roof of the house. "The whole house shook like cardboard," one officer told TIME. Within seconds, hostages were crawling out of windows and down ladders to freedom.
Minutes before the assault, the captives had received a secret message: Soldiers would be arriving to rescue them. TIME was told that six days before the attack 11 tiny transmitters had been smuggled in to the captives. "We had a 10-minute warning," said former hostage Jorge Gumucio. "They gave us instructions to throw ourselves to the ground and not move for anything."
A Bold Move
Peru's President, Alberto Fujimori, had refused to meet the rebels' demand that 450 jailed rebels be freed. The government spent months preparing for the raid. Soldiers were able to approach the house through a network of hidden tunnels. Electronic listening devices let the authorities monitor the rebels' every move. At the time of the attack, all the hostages were on the second floor. Eight terrorists were playing soccer in the living room.
Fujimori's bold move stunned much of the world. But no one was more surprised than the rebels. "Our intelligence services were extremely efficient," said Fujimori. "The information was so detailed that I didn't waver for a single minute in giving the order for this rescue operation."
Fujimori told a jubilant crowd, "The government kept firm. But also we were patient, exhausting all peaceful options." Last March, Fidel Castro, Cuba's leader, offered the rebels a safe haven in return for the hostages' release. The rebels refused.
Many had hoped for a peaceful ending to the crisis. But Fujimori feared for the hostages' lives. Said former hostage Gumucio: "It was either them (killed) or us."