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On 15 April 1961, eight B-26B Invader bombers of the Fuerza Aérea de Liberación (FAL) (Liberation Air Force) of Brigade 2506 simultaneously attacked three Cuban airfields:
The Liberation Air Force was composed of some 40 Cuban pilots and navigators with commercial or military experience, plus their support staff.
Their B-26s, prepared by the CIA for clandestine use by Brigade 2506, were painted with the false flag markings of the Fuerza Aérea Revolucionaria (FAR) (Revolutionary Air Force) of the Castro regime.
The B-26B aircrafts, based in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, were armed with bombs, rockets, and machine guns.
The purpose of the operation (code-named Operation Puma) was to destroy most or all the armed aircraft of the FAR in preparation for the main invasion by ground forces of Brigade 2506.
At Santiago, the two B-26B aircraft destroyed a C-47 transport, a PBY Catalina flying boat, two B-26s and a civilian Douglas DC-3 plus various other civilian aircraft.
At San Antonio, the three attackers destroyed three FAR B-26s, one Hawker Sea Fury and one T-33.
At the Columbia airfield, the three attackers destroyed only non-operational aircraft such as two Republic P-47 Thunderbolts. One of which was damaged by anti-aircraft fire and ditched about 50 km (31 mi) north of Cuba. Its companion B-26, also damaged, continued north and landed at Boca Chica Field, Florida.
The operation claimed a total of 106 lives from Brigade 2506 that day:
Aircrews killed in action totaled 6 from the Cuban air force, 10 Cuban civilian and 4 American airmen.
The final toll for Cuban revolutionary armed forces during the conflict was 176 killed in action. This figure includes only the Cuban Army and it is estimated that about 2,000 militiamen were killed or wounded during the fighting.
Other Cuban forces casualties were between 500 and 4,000 (killed, wounded or missing). The airfield attacks on 15 April left 7 Cubans dead and 53 wounded.
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