The Battle of Aidabasalala (16 October 1999) was a small but hard-fought action during the 1999 East Timorese crisis between pro-Indonesian militia and a six-man Australian covert reconnaissance patrol from the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) operating as part of the United Nations-mandated International Force for East Timor (INTERFET). The battle took place near Aidabasalala, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the West Timor border, and saw the Australians attacking a group of more than sixty armed militia. The SASR patrol had been detected whilst establishing an observation post over a village and had to fight their way to a landing zone, being attacked a further three times over a one-and-a-half-hour period, killing a number of their opponents before they were safely evacuated by S-70 Black Hawk helicopter.
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