Cildanian War

[Doc]

ML strikes deep in Cildania
Destroys Recruitment Center, kills 18
December 25, 3940

In what is being dubbed the "Nativity Bombing," the insurgent group ML deployed a suicide bomber against a Cildanian recruiting station in Qart Yam, Jilṣun Archduchy, killing 2 Cildanian recruiters and 16 citizens. The explosion also collapsed the building, trapping 4 inside. Cranes and excavators were brought in and later helped the trapped individuals.


Cildanian Army Recruitment Center at Qart Yam, Destroyed earlier today

ML issued a statement, accepting responsibility for the explosion:

"People of Cildania. We have taken our first actions against the Apostolic Hosian Government of Cildania. Cildania is beset by a government which does not have the best interests of the People at heart. They are religious fanatics, not interested in basic human needs. Instead, they ask us to wait until we die and then we will get the reward for our suffering in the Afterlife. ML represents the true aspirations of the People of Cildania. Just as we stand tall with the people of the Hebilean State, we also rally the people of Cildania proper to our Banner, and put the Government on notice- ML will not sit idly by while the legitimate interests of the people are crushed beneath the boot of oppression. The Vanukean Invaders have failed to contain us, and have allowed us to advance into Cildania. This explosion, while regrettable, is nonetheless necessary to put the Hosian Government on alert. As long as they continue to terrorize their people, we will continue to strike. ML's ideology is not Red, not Blue, Not Purple, Not Yellow, but Green, and we will stand with the growers and producers and workers of the territories we liberate for the people. All people of Cildania, rise and fight for your rights. Stand with us to put an end to terrorists."

The explosion is the first significant strike by ML against the Cildanian Government. ML has threatened the action for years, and rumors of their dispersment throughout the island have been widespread, but ML has been quite effective at hiding their communications over electronic devices, leaving those tracking the group mostly in the dark. Additionally, until this point, ML has primarily focused its fire on Vanukean forces occupying the Hebilean State, so this explosion targeting the Cildanian armed forces represents the first steps in broadening the conflict across the border. The escalation will certainly draw Cildania deeper into the conflict, and additional ML action can now be expected throughout Cildania proper.

[Doc]

Organized Crime on the Rise Across Island
ML takes advantage of mounting crisis to expand drug trade
March 18, 3941

While the low level attacks on Vanukean occupiers and now Cildanian military targets have been covered extensively over the past few years, one of the under-reported aspects of ML activity on the island has been its connection to organized crime. ML has taken advantage of the political instability in Cildania and Aheblun to dramatically expand its grip on various organized crime syndicates throughout the Island. ML spent three full years consolidating its control over the entire criminal underground in Aheblun, and now dominates all aspects of organized crime there. ML currently dominates the drug trade throughout Aheblun, as well as running illegal protection and numbers rackets in the major cities. ML's tactics in the past have included arson, assault, and kidnapping, and ML is not above murder.


Tariq el-S'Barka, leader of ML, commenting last month on the strange hybrid
Criminal Syndicate/Guerrilla Front/Social Welfare Organization that is "Death to Terrorists"

Most importantly, ML acts with impunity throughout Aheblun because they keep the Vanukeans tied up with periodic attacks and explosions, while controlling much of the police force. Additionally, most of the targets of their criminal activity are other criminal elements, and not the average citizens. Through a series of explosions, assassinations and bribes, ML now has its hand in, and draws money from just about every business and local government activity throughout the Archduchy which isn't directly controlled by the Vanukeans. And yet, much of Aheblun now views ML as the legitimate alternative to the police, because the police that do operate there are widely viewed as both ineffective and corrupt- ML is known for brutally enforcing the letter of the law against all violators who are not connected to ML. Since ML's rise in Aheblun, gang warfare and crime directed against ordinary citizens has come to an abrupt end.

For their part, citizens are attracted to ML's organization because ML very publicly performs social welfare operations, such as building houses for poor and working classes in the Hebilean State, opening schools and clinics which provide services for free, and operates several local food banks. ML has claimed that this social justice is part of its mission to provide an alternative to traditional sources of social welfare, but this claim is widely viewed with skepticism by experts, and treated as a cynical tactic in pursuit of public support for the criminal activity of the Organization. Mahmoud al-Tabiri, one of ML's more outspoken critics in 'Akeldr told reporters,

"These people are thugs, with no value for human life. The notion that these criminals would be interested in helping the very people, on the one hand, whose lives they are ruining on the other, seems to me to be laughable, at best, and downright sinister at worst. The clinics, for example, primarily offer services for drug use, abuse and overdose- those same drugs were supplied by the ML cartel! Their schools may teach literacy, but it is because ML needs a literate army of criminals to effectively keep Aheblun under its boot of terror. We shouldn't treat these criminals as heroes. They should be exterminated!"

Al-Tabiri's opinion aside, ML enjoys widespread public support throughout Aheblun, and pockets of support in the slums of the cities throughout Cildania.


Pro ML rally, staged by supporters in 'Akeldr last month. ML is seen as social justice organization by many of Cildania's poor

As ML advances across the border into Cildania, organized crime follows. ML has already taken steps to dominate the illegal narcotics trade in 'Akeldr. Several notorious drug barons in the Archduchy have recently turned up missing, and at least three of them have recently been found to have been executed. While 'Akeldr police have generally viewed these incidences in a positive light, it instead points to an increase in ML criminal activity in the Archduchy. There have also been reports of low level racketeering activities in two other Archduchies on the Island. ML has also stepped up its recruitment efforts among the unemployed in Cildania, offering them an alternative to military service. It is estimated that the ML criminal organization now counts more than 40,000 associates across the island, and concentrated in the Cities, a number that dwarfs the more publicly active guerrilla front consisting of less than 7,000 partisans under arms.

It is estimated that ML's criminal operation is worth about 875 million Cildar annually. The ML spends much of this paying local officials, and supply and wages for its fairly large army of criminals, but annual profits top 25 million Cildar. As the criminal wing of ML expands through an unstable Cildania, these numbers are expected to increase, and will continue to add to ML's operational capacity.

[Polites]

Cildanian Winter
Civil war drags on



Cildanian forces in Kirsh

February 3942 - The current conflict in Cildania, fought between the forces of Cildania and Vanuku, the ML criminal cartel, and the Democratic Arouch movement, began with the so-called Hebilean Spring, a democratic revolution that overthrew the theocratic government of Aheblun established during the Civil War. But the Hebilean Spring soon turned into a Winter, as Vanuku occupied the breakaway province under the justification of keeping crime in check, and as Cildania, reacting to the democratic revolution in its former province, had its own Apostolic counter-revolution and invaded Aheblun itself. Now the territory is locked in a three-way conflict, where no side has enough strength to displace the other, and where outright victory seems impossible for all participants.

Although most cities in Aheblun are under Vanukean military control, the ML has gained enough strength to directly challenge them. Cildania too has expanded its control into the province, but in spite of its much larger force, has been unable to displace the smaller but better equipped Vanukean taskforce. The battles of Hadiik-Mijidill (July 3940), Agadir (September 3940), and Tanegzart (May 3941), fought between Cildania and Vanuku, have ended inconclusively, as Cildania failed to remove Vanukean forces from those cities. Although the Cildanian invasion force was able to briefly gain control over Reqsahet in September 3941, the town was recovered by the Vanukean-sponsored Hebilean National Army. And with Vanuku lacking domestic support for large-scale military intervention, and due to Cildania's technologically obsolete military, the two sides remain locked in a stalemate.


Establishment of Arouch Front
Democratic Arouch Movement forms army



Troops of the Arouch Front

The Democratic Arouch Movement, the driving force of the Hebilean Spring, continues to be seen by many Hebileans as the only legitimate political force in Aheblun. Led by village elders and intellectuals, the horizontally-organized Movement, although it managed to overthrow the Apostolic theocracy and install a democratic regime, has been unable to establish any form of political or military control, allowing the region to succumb to the joint Vanukean and Cildanian invasion. This has now changed, however, with the establishment of the Arouch Front. Claiming to be the official military wing of the Democratic Arouch Movement, the Front aims for a democratic and secular Aheblun, based on the values of the Hebilean Spring. Having established close ties with pro-democracy movements in Cildania proper, the Front seems to have moved away from the Movement's initial goal of preserving Hebilean independence at all costs. And indeed the leadership of the Arouch Front have announced they would be open to reunification with Cildania under a federal and democratic arrangement, stating that Hebilean democracy would never be safe as long as Cildania itself remains undemocratic. The Front has also cautiously announced cooperation with the Thomasine loyalists of the Hebilean Royal Army, under the condition that the constitutional arrangement of Aheblun and Cildania as a whole be decided only after the end of the war. The close ties with democratic forces in Cildania are complemented by equally close ties to the cartel calling itself "Death to Terrorists", which in recent years, and assisted by the chaos that now reigns on the island, has grown to the point of near total monopoly on all organized crime in the region. Although the Arouch Front and the ML both deny their intimate connection, it is clear that they have established a symbiotic and mutually beneficial relationship.

The Arouch Front has grown significantly since its establishment in December last year. Profiting from its close ties to the ML, its high popularity, and, most importantly, the leadership skills of Lalla Kahina, the Front's Head of Military Operations, the small 9,000-strong military force has established a strong presence in Aheblun. Using hit-and-run tactics, the guerrilla force has so far avoided major engagements with both Cildania and Vanuku, but it is now clear that the Arouch Front is now a force to be reckoned with.


Lalla Kahina, the leader of the Arouch Front

The commander-in-chief of the Arouch Front, the semi-mythical Lalla Kahina, is emblematic for the post-ethnic struggles and conflicts that now mark Cildania, after a generation of Hebilean independence. Born Kahina S Antalas n'Kawacu and given the nickname "Lalla" (a word of Hebilean origin, the female equivalent of "Sidi", i.e. "Sir"), she is the daughter of Antalas Ag Sadek, the Amenokal (Chief) of the Ayt Moussa tribe, itself of Yeudi origins, and Malika al-Faqi, a Badaran Apostolic refugee in Aheblun. Little information is known about Lalla Kahina, and so far only one photograph of her has emerged, but her leadership appears to have greatly inspired the Arouch troops she is now in charge of. If until now the Movement has been a secondary player in the new civil war on the island, owing to its lack of a clear command structure and organization, her efforts may bring the Arouch Front to the forefront of the conflict.

[Kubrick]

Hero of Tanegzart has fallen in battle
Captain Hdrin Jusuv dies a true hero.


Captain Jusuv being knighted in 3940 for his heroic actions near Tanegzart.

June 3943 - Four years ago a true hero stood up to defend the people of Aheblun. During a merciless assault of mindless communist terrorists on a Hebilean National Army base one brave Vanukean officer refused to surrender, under strict orders from his commanding officer this man refused to step back. Risking his own life he brought fallen soldiers to safety, rallied fleeing troops back to the front and single-handedly defended a vital position against all odds. Captain Jusuv's disregard for his own safety and unstoppable fighting spirit earned him a prestigious knighthood in 3940. The Captain returned to Aheblun as fast as he could to rejoin "his Hebilean boys". He personally drilled and trained over 2,500 HNA recruits and occassionally joined HNA missions to track down ML weapon caches and drug labs. Captain Jusuv participated in twenty-one raids before he met his untimely end. It was during the last raid that the Captain, resolute and fearless as always, was hit multiple times while extracting a wounded soldier during a tense firefight deep in the Hebilean mountains. His squad was unable to retrieve him and his stranded compatriot, Private Jansen. Captain Jusuv, while bleeding heavily, continued to suppress ML terrorists with his assault rifle and side arm. After the battle was over Private Jansen was found barely alive and Captain Jusuv had succumbed to his grievous wounds. Around him the soldiers found six dead terrorists. Captain Jusuv has died a true hero's death. Prince Lazr has post-humously declared him to be the Count of Mazgraf, a title that instantly passed to his son. The noble title and lands will assure a stable income for the family of this true Vanukean hero.

[Doc]

ML Leader calls for "Unity of Action" with Democratic Arouch Movement
Promises to launch new offensive throughout Aheblun
July 4, 3943


Tariq El-S'Barka speaks to the International Press to declare "common cause" with
The Democratic Arouch Movement

Speaking from a secure location to international Press, Death to Terrorists' leader Tariq el-S'Barka issued the following statement

It is with great sorrow that we recognize the loss of a great fighter, Captain Hdrin Jusuv, Vanukean and leader of the Hebilean National Army. While it is unusual to recognize and grieve the death of one's adversary, the death of this soldier is occasion to break tradition. Captain Jusuv has always served his government with honor and dignity. At the battle where ML destroyed Outpost 17, the Captain bravely held out with his forces, encouraging them to fight on through his example, until they could fight no more, and then his defiance, even in defeat, so impresses ML partisans that the decision was made to simply let the prisoners return to their lines without any additional harm. The Captain was a model soldier and no braver person existed on this Island while he yet lived. We are proud to say that we fought him, and we honor him as we honor the dead who fell to this steadfast courage. Our condolences to his family and his unit. You have experienced the greatest possible loss, and though it was deemed imperative at the time, we are no less sorry for our part in his death.

After a moment of silence from the visibly shaken leader, el-S'Barka continued

ML hereby issues unanimous declaration of unity with the cause of the Democratic Arouch Movement in Aheblun. We see in this groups the same aspiration for freedom that more than 50,000 ML fighters express on a day to day basis. We have all had enough of the terrorists who roam our streets and harass our people. Over the years, we have launched several successful attacks against the murders who daily attack Hebileans. It is true that we have lost people: good people, with brilliant futures ahead of them have been gunned down by these assassins. But with the Democratic Arouch Movement in Aheblun and democratic partisans throughout Cildania, we fight, as one, against them, for the freedom of the people of Cildania. ML is well funded. Our business operations, which are significant throughout the island, and have been singlehandedly responsible for the near elimination of all violent crime against civilians, have also eliminated all criminal factions of any consequence. As a result, we represent the force for peace on the island. Pairing our objectives with the democratic aspirations of the people of Aheblun therefore seems only natural. We will welcome all opportunities to work with these freedom fighters in our joint cause to rid the island of the scourge of state terrorism.

El-S'Barka's statement was broadcast over all alternative and independent news sources on Cildania.

[Doc]

ML opens first Athletic centers, Housing projects
Brash move challenges legitimacy of Vanukean Occupation
Hebilean State
December 18, 3943


ML Leader Tariq el-S'Barka "kicks off" inauguration ceremonies at the new, ML-funded Aheblun National Football Stadium

In a deliberately provocative act, ML leader Tariq el-S'Barka dedicated the Aheblun National Football Stadium in Agadir, built almost exclusively with ML money. Experts agree that the money was obtained almost exclusively through ML's monopoly of the narcotics trade in Cildania. El-S'Barka was on hand to call the first matches into action, and even joined commentators in the booth for a time. The move serves to highlight ML's vision as a parallel institution of government and civil society, which aims are undermining Vanukean justification for occupation in the Territory, and strengthens the hand of the Democratic Arouch Movement's calls for self-determination from Vanukean occupation.


ML-constructed Housing development in Mort Iskendra, opened last month,
now home to more than 50 formerly homeless families of Aheblun

El-S'Barka also dedicated their first major social construction in Mort Iskendra this month, with a 53 unit public Apartment complex. ML built the high rise apartment on the site of former 1st Hebilean National Bank, which ML terrorists blew up years ago. The site has remained a monument to the explosion until ML financed developers purchased it last year and built the apartments. The Mayor of Mort Iskendra was on hand to help El-S'Barka cut the ribbon, officially opening the building for inhabitants to move in. The ML leader stated that it was his goal to end homelessness throughout Aheblun.

"For too long we have seen the scourge of homelessness rampage in our streets. In many ways, this threat terrorizes the people as much, if not more than the People who disappear people in helicopters and destroy shantytowns with tanks. Now, my friends in ML are able to do something about it. We want to build not just one building, but 50, 500, 5000 buildings, as many as it takes until not one more person is forced to live under a bridge or in a culvert, at the mercy of the elements, wild animals and overzealous national guardsmen in the employ of the Occupiers. ML builds houses, Vanuku and Cildania destroy lives. And they call us the criminals. We wish to end the terror of homelessness, and we begin here, at this site of the single greatest tragedy in modern Hebilean history.

"We thank the Mayor of our fine city for his assistance in moving this project along at a rapid rate: Despite threats and intimidation from the Occupier terrorists for his efforts to help us, he has stood for Right in this city. We invite all to tour our development- You will find only the most modern convenience and comfort here, as well as amenities and access to subsidized public transportation. In addition, ML has agreed to waive the rent for all who dwell here: Our generous foundation, which we intend to grow year after year, as we meet more need, shall cover all operation and maintenance of this building for its residents. Quarters are not affluent, but they are adequate, and will serve this year to take more than 50 homeless families off Iskendra's streets and give them a solid footing to stand on. Together, with the ML, we, the people of Mort Iskendra can stand up and take control of our own lives. Democracy is within reach of the people of Aheblun, ML believes it can help. We start, today!"

[Polites]

Cildania and Vanuku join forces
Joint attack on ML bases


"Death to Terrorists" fighters in Agadir

July 3944 - The Baltusian Standoff between the three major contestants in the Cildanian Winter seems to have ended, as Cildania and Vanuku have started an unofficial collaboration against the ML cartel and its ally, the Arouch Front. The two nations remain formally at war, but after years of inconclusive fighting, and with the ML-Arouch alliance gaining enough strength to directly challenge both, the two governments have every reason to put aside their differences and work together towards their common goals. And indeed, since May the two invasion forces, together with the Vanuku-backed Hebilean Resistance Movement and the Cildanian-aligned Apostolic Army, have initiated a full-scale assault on ML and Arouch targets throughout the island, focusing particularly on weapon storehouses. Collaboration has so far been entirely unofficial, but coordination does nonetheless now exist between the two nations.

But their cooperation ends here. However much they might both despise the rising Cildanian cartel, and in spite of their shared aversion towards the Hebilean Spring and its democratic and secular aspirations, Qart Qildar and Wiel have widely divergent views on how post-war Cildania ought to look like. On one side, the Action government seeks a single, unified, and independent Cildania under theocratic rule, although their strong support for the ousted Hebilean regime makes them more than willing to recognize a large degree of cultural and political autonomy for Aheblun, while Vanuku, on the other, cares most about preserving its sphere of influence in Aheblun, irrespective of its constitutional arrangement, which it sees as threatened if the island were to be reunified. But there remains a strong incentive for collaboration as well. Together the two governments have the means to push ML out of Cildania, and maybe even capture the elusive Lalla Kahina, the leader of the guerrilla Arouch Front, who has been a thorn on the side of both nations and who is now reportedly conducting her operations in Cildania proper. And they also share one common goal, namely the destruction of ML and an end to the Hebilean Spring. With that common goal in mind, perhaps Cildania and Vanuku could move closer to peace. After all, Vanuku might not be entirely opposed to the prospect of a reunified Cildania, provided their interests and sphere of influence in region are protected, and Cildania might not opposed to the influence of Vanuku, should its own interests be protected. And with the conflict risking to reach the scale and destruction of the previous Civil War, any prospect of a peaceful resolution may be welcome by all parties involved.

OOC: Backdating a bit to account for inactivity

[Doc]

ML Abandons Political Struggle, Vows to focus on "business"
Sets up Headquarters on Abd-Aullah Island
July 3954

The ongoing low-level civil war in Aheblun rages on, but ML seems to have completely abandoned the political struggle. Hebilean police forces have indicated a sharp uptick in gangland style violence on the mainland. Meanwhile, ML has completed its total occupation of a small and uninhabited island 50 miles off the Hebilean coast known as Abd-Aullah Island. This coral Island, claimed by Cildania, has in the past served as resort for Cildanian elite, but since the rise of ML, regular transit has been interrupted. Then, five years ago, ML reportedly hired the mercenary fleet from The Imperial Republic of Kalistan to help them take over the Island. In the years which followed, ML set up an air strip capable of accommodating large cargo and passenger aircraft, a dockyard and infrastructure which has turned the island into a virtual fortress.


Tariq el-S'Barka, at home on Abd-Aullah Island, last May

Then, last week, the leader of ML, Tariq el-S'Barka issued the following statement, from the radio station on the Island:

"ML is a business organization first. It is clear that the commanders of ML's political faction on the Island do not see things in these terms. As a result, we have cut all ties with the political arm of this organization. We will continue our work toward social justice and ending unemployment, but the sectarian struggle with Vanuku and Cildania no longer serves our interests as a business organization. We feel confident in this development, given our monopolization of the trade in items labeled contraband by the Hebilean Government, across the entire Island. This ceasefire is unilateral- Henceforth, ML shall only defend its legitimate business interests on the mainland, and the struggle against the Vanukeans and Cildanians belongs to others now. ML will henceforth be focusing exclusively on its business operations, and will oppose anyone who decides to stand in the way of our legitimate operation."

Abd-Aullah Island, new base and transshipment point of ML

To inaugurate the shift, ML has launched a fleet of fast boats in waters around Cildania, and has announced that all narcotics will be sold in Cildania at a 10% discount for the next 6 months, and producers of precursors on the Island will be paid a bounty per pound of raw material that they sell in ML controlled markets. ML also announced that they are taking over all operations from the now defunct Cildanian ODEN operation, and will be now operating narcotics trade throughout Majatra.

[Polites]

Winter Ends
Cildania and Vanuku end war


Cildanian and Vanukean representatives in Mort Iskendra

May 3956 - After the unofficial cooperation between Cildania and Vanuku managed to cast the ML out of Cildania, the low-level conflict between the two sides continued, but with much reduced intensity. As neither side has the means and desire to defeat the other, representatives of Cildania, Vanuku, and Hebil have finally reached an agreement that would put an end to fighting. The Mort Iskendra Agreement signed between the three sides allows for the formal and official reunification of Hebil with Cildania in exchange for the entire island entering Vanuku's sphere of influence. The formerly independent region of Aheblun has been granted a wide degree of cultural and political autonomy, and Ugwistan Ag Takfarinas, the former Hebilean President overthrown in the Hebilean Spring, shall be appointed the Head of Government for reunified Cildania. One of Vanuku's demands towards Cildania was that the latter liberalize its theocratic legislation, in an attempt to avoid the mass dissidence that began the war in the first place. Additionally, both parties have pledged to cooperate militarily in their fight against "communist terrorism", and to finally put an end to the Arouch Movement's insurrection and to Lalla Kahina's Arouch Front.

Violence and conflict have not been brought to an end in Cildania, however. The withdrawal of the ML cartel has left the local crime syndicates without a unified leadership, and the resulting chaos has led to renewed fighting between the most notorious clans. Known as marfud, from a Majatran word meaning "rejected", the "families" now fight each other for supremacy over the lucrative drug and weapons trafficking on the island, but their reach and influence are now much reduced with the departure of Tariq el-S'Barka.

[Doc]

Tariq el-S'Barka Murdered
Mystery surrounds the death of a once-powerful arch criminal

Last week, reports about the death of Tariq el-S'Barka, the one time revolutionary and leading figure in the Cildanian Narcotics trade for nearly three decades were confirmed by independent sources both within and outside of Cildania. The ML has long since ceased to function as a coherent group, but el-S'Barka had maintained control of a small island in the South Ocean, just a few miles outside of Cildanian waters as a headquarters and drug trans-shipment point for much of the last sixteen years. He was a frequent customer of the independent mercenary fleet known as the Kalistani Auxiliary Navy, and used them to both move his shipments and to protect cartel sea lanes throughout Majatra.

Unconfirmed reports of the drug baron's death suggest that el-S'Barka was murdered during a dispute over payments to his lieutenants. It is likely that one of them paid a hitman to assassinate el-S'Barka on his organization's island fortress at Abd-Aullah Island. The first signs that something had changed in the organization's command structure was the abrupt return of the Kalistani Auxiliary Navy to Kalistan, and the end of drug trans-shipment through the island. Within three days after the apparent assassination, the Island was abandoned by the organization, and the property owned by the cartel was destroyed.

Few in Cildanian circles are sad to see el-S'Barka go. He was 68 years old. His death puts a post script onto the Cildanian Crisis.