Under orders from the newly elected President Ranasinghe Premadasa, Operation Combine was established by Lieutenant Colonel Ranjan Wijeratne, State Minister of Defence on 4 August 1989 at the height of the 1987–89 JVP Insurrection in the south of Sri Lanka.

The Special Task Force was headed by Major General Cecil Waidyaratne, Army Chief of Staff with Brigadier Lakshman Algama serving as his deputy and established its headquarters at Havelock Town.

The Special Task Force carried out intelligence gathering and direct action operations against the JVP, targeting its leadership.

It was successful in tracking down and eliminating much of the JVP leadership which culminated with the capture and death of its leader Rohana Wijeweera on 12 November 1989.

Following the death of Wijeweera and other key leaders, the JVP insurrection collapsed and Operation Combine was terminated in February 1990 by Ranjan Wijeratne.