Suharto Seizes Power After Coup Attempt; Mass Killings of PKI Members and Suspected Sympathizers Follow

On September 30, 1965, military officers killed six senior Indonesian army generals. General Suharto assumed army control and blamed the PKI (Indonesian Communist Party). From October 1965 to March 1966, the army and allied militias systematically killed PKI members, suspected sympathizers, ethnic Chinese, and trade unionists. Scholars estimate between 500,000 and one million deaths. Declassified US State Department documents show the US Embassy provided PKI member lists to Indonesian forces. Suharto removed President Sukarno from power and became president in 1967, ruling for 32 years.