Malaita Eagle Force in the context of "Andrew Nori"

Honiara (/ˌhoʊniˈɑːrə/) is the capital and largest city of Solomon Islands, situated on the northwestern coast of Guadalcanal. As of 2021, it had a population of 92,344 people. The city is served by Honiara International Airport and the seaport of Point Cruz, and lies along the Kukum Highway. In 1983, a capital territory – comprising the 22 square-kilometre metropolitan area of Honiara – was proclaimed, with a self-governing status akin to a province, although the city also retained an older role as capital of Guadalcanal Province.

The airport area to the east of Honiara was the site of a battle between the United States and the Japanese during the Guadalcanal Campaign in World War II, the Battle for Henderson Field of 1942, from which the former emerged victorious. After Honiara became the new administrative centre of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate in 1952 with the addition of many administrative buildings, the town began to develop and grow in population. Since the late 1990s, Honiara has suffered a turbulent history of ethnic violence and political unrest and is scarred by rioting. A coup attempt in June 2000 resulted in violent rebellions and fighting between the ethnic Malaitans of the Malaita Eagle Force (MEF) and the Guadalcanal natives of the Isatabu Freedom Movement (IFM).

The Isatabu Freedom Movement (IFM) was a nationalist militant organisation of the island of Guadalcanal in Solomon Islands.

The movement also included other factions such as the Guadalcanal Revolutionary Army and the Guadalcanal Liberation Front which was led by warlord Harold Keke. It was engaged in fighting against the Solomon Island Government and the Guadalcanal Provincial Government as well as with another militant organisation, Malaita Eagle Force. In response to the fighting, the government enacted the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands.