Multinational Peacekeeping Force M'biruna

Multinational Peacekeeping Force M'biruna
Hery Fiarovana Fandriampahalemana Iraisam-pirenena M'biruna
MPFM personnel sort through an air drop.
Active	10 March 2006 - 30 December 2009
Disbanded	30 December 2009
Country	Daobac Onekawa-Nukanoa Pulacan Kembesa
Role	Peacekeeping & Humanitarian mission
Size	xx,xxx
Engagements	Insurgency in M'biruna

The Multinational Peacekeeping Force M'biruna, commonly abbreviated to as the MPFM and informally referred to as the M'birunan Peacekeepers, was a multinational peacekeeping and humanitarian taskforce organized and led by Daobac at the request of its ally Pulau Keramat as part of the peace process of the M'birunan Civil War. The MPFM was charged in ensuring that all belligerents of the conflict observed all relevant ceasefire agreements and to distribute humanitarian aid throughout M'biruna. Countries that participated and contributed personnel for the MPFM included Onekawa-Nukanoa, Pulacan, XXX and XXX. The MPFM was comprised of both military and civilian personnel, each tasked with different responsibilities throughout their deployment. Participating nations were permitted to send solely military or civilian personnel, though greater emphasis was placed upon the recruitment of civilian aid workers. The first wave of MPNF personnel was first deployed on 10 March 2006 and reached a peak of XX,XXX personnel in 2008, until it finally ended on 30 December 2009 when its last personnel left M'biruna. The MPNF helped reduce violence throughout the M'biruna and prevented the civil war from being reignited by rogue military units, rebel groups and militias. While the MPFM were able to enforce the main provisions of the Nkomo Accords such as complete disarmament and demobilization of unsanctioned militias and the stabilization of M'biruna's internal borders, tensions between the M'birunan and Agysimban ethnic groups continue to persist long after the MPFM has left the country.

Contributing countries

Country	Military Personnel	Civilian Personnel
Daobac	4,160	900
Onekawa-Nukanoa	TBD	TBD
Pulacan	TBD	TBD
Kembesa	N/Aa	800b

^a Due to their prior involvement in the civil war, Kembesan military personnel were required to vacate M'biruna.
^b Up to 500 Kembesan aid workers were substantiated to be disguised paramilitary forces

Pulacan

Pulatec aid workers construct the foundations of a temporary school building.

The Union State of Pulacan contributed XHUNDRED personnel to the Multinational Peacekeeping Force. The vast majority were drawn from the Union Labor Bureau (Nahuatl: Cenaltepetecpan Tequichihualuztli, also known by its initials CT), though a handful of Pulatl officials attached were medical personnel, interpreters, and educators. The intent behind Pulacan's contribution was largely to facilitate a restoration of pre-war infrastructure. To this end, CT workers were assigned to patching up damaged roadways, restoring rail infrastructure, and assembling temporary public buildings such as schools, hospitals, and aid distribution centers. The work of the CT freed up personnel from the other member nations to distribute aid, establish healthcare, disarm rebels, and perform other needed tasks, while allowing stricken communities a new framework from which they could rebuild more permanent infrastructure.

The first CT personnel arrived in M'Biruna in April, 2006. Their presence was at first controversial, as Pulacan had been a historical target of enmity by several groups within M'Biruna. Then-Chief Minister Huehuetl Ramotswe had petitioned the other nations in the Peacekeeping Force during its formation to allow for the presence of the labor force, as such a contribution would be seen as an olive branch to the factions within the battered nation. The contribution's focus on infrastructure was also chosen for this reason; as opposed to armed peacekeepers, such a civilian force was seen as the most uncontroversial means of aiding the force, and the one least likely to suffer from potential incidents. This assumption did not prove entirely correct, however, as [XY and Z incidents maybe happened to them] during the Force's existence.

Mandate

The MPNF was charged with the following mandates:

1. Enforce the provision of the Nkomo Accords
2. Ensure that all belligerents observe all relevant cease fire agreements.
3. Protect civilians and non-combatants from harm.
4. Distribute humanitarian aid.
5. Assist in rebuilding basic public infrastructure.
6. Supervise the disarmament of militia groups.

Deployment

Disarmament process

A ceremony that marks the end of the weapons collection phase of the disarmament process.

Among the many provisions of the 2008 Nkomo Accords was the disarmament of both government military forces & armed rebel groups throughout M'biruna. Military personnel from the MPFM taskforce was tasked with the overall management and execution of the disarmament program divided the program into four major phases:

• Phase 1: Identification of all factions included in the disarmament and demobilization provision of the Nkomo Accords.
• Phase 2: Weapons and armaments collection process.
• Phase 3: Storage of weapons and armaments.
• Phase 4: Destruction of weapons and armaments.

Phase 1 and 2 relied heavily upon the goodwill of commanders from both government & rebel forces to provide accurate information and cooperation in enforcing the disarmament order to their soldiers. Phase 1 began from the moment the Nkomo Accords began to be drafted in 2006 and took more than a year to finalize the list of factions. An in depth verification process involving both government, rebel elements, as well as MPFM military personnel and the Nkomo Accords committee, was required to ensure the validity and accuracy of the number and type of weapons and armaments to be destroyed. Aside from weapons, the name of individual soldiers and the type of weapon they possessed were also noted down for proper identification purposes. From January to March 2007, the MPFM printed more than XXX plastic identification cards that were given to government and rebel commanders to be distributed to their forces. More than XX government military units and XX rebel forces were included in the final approved version of the accords.

For Phase 2 the MPFM established various collection zones in M'biruna, typically in major cities with major MPFM presence, where government and rebel troops would enter and deposit their weapons and other armaments. The MPFM created a disarmament schedule to manage traffic to and from the collection zones and to prevent troops from opposing forces to meet in order to reduce potential frictions that may arise. For security reasons, this schedule was not shared to other factions other than the MPFM, however factions that were required to disarm were provided a 24 hour notice period which by then they must arrive at a designated collection zone. Government and rebel forces would organize convoys that carried both soldiers and drove vehicles that were to be handed over to the MPFM. Upon arrival at the collection zones, a soldier would show their pre-issued ID cards, have it verified and surrender their weapon and other armaments. The entire collection process took X months to complete. Weapons and arms collected were stored in secure locations in MPFM bases where they were kept until the time came to destroy them. All weapons and armaments were destroyed before the end of the MPFM mission.

Insurgency

See also: Insurgency in M'biruna

Throughout the disarmament process, various rebel groups namely the Ingubu-centric Cha Cha Ungalakothi (CCU) militia group, instigating a five month insurgency against the MPFM in 2007. The CCU refused to adhere to the provisions of the Nkomo Accords, primarily those that were related to disarmament and demobilization of their faction. In general most M'birunan and Agysimban aligned militias complied to the accords with little resistance. Prior to the ratification of the Nkomo Accords the CCU has publicly stated their refusal to abide by the accords and has refused any MPFM-led efforts to bring the CCU back to the negotiating table. Phase 2 of the disarmament process was initiated on April 2007, beginning with the M'birunan militias who supported the accords. Throughout this time the CCU employed local civilians to gather intelligence by observing the movement of MPFM forces especially the position of their weapon collection zones and bases. The CCU had a working rudimentary but effective bush telegraph network which allowed CCU commanders to effectively coordinate their activities and relay intelligence gathered from one area to another more efficiently. By May 2007 radical cells within the CCU initiated small scale, though largely non-violent, raids against foreign aid workers that were involved with the reconstruction projects in the Agysimban side of the buffer zone. CCU rebels would identify locations where aid convoys were largely undefended and ambush them, disabling their vehicles and either scaring the aid workers into submission or forcing them to flee o nfoot. As the aid workers fled or were restrained, the CCU rebels ransacked the convoy, confiscating mostly perishable goods such as food, water and medicine. These attacks prompted the MPFM to increase the number of military forces to escort and defend these convoys and location of where these workers would conduct humanitarian missions. The number of successful CCU raids were significantly reduced, captured CCU militias were interrogated by the MPFM to gather intelligence and identify which CCU cells were responsible for the attacks as the MPFM gradually mapped out the location of hostile areas throughout the country. At the same time the MPFM invited CCU leaders to negotiate disarmament agreements.

However by June 2007 negotiations had stalled as the CCU escalated their insurgency by reinitiating their raids and attacks against MPFM aid convoys and working sites, publicly demanded that the MPFM cease all disarmament attempts in M'biruna and leave the country immediately. In response the MPFM initiated counterinsurgency (COIN) operations against the CCU, raiding the bases and camps of CCU factions that had been identified as those responsible for the escalation. The escalations however had prompted more factions within the CCU to participate in the insurgency against MPFM forces. The CCU was covertly supported by sympathetic elements within the leadership of the M'birunan armed forces, providing the rebels with various intelligence and tip offs of MPFM deployments and movements that were shared with the M'birunan military. One particular intelligence that was shared was the upcoming transfer of administrative rule of the city of Mtshelelele from M'birunan to Agysimban control as part of the Nkomo Accords to stabilize M'biruna's internal borders. Mtshelelele was one of the cities that had been forcefully taken over by M'birunan forces in the civil war, the news of it being transferred to Agysimban administration sparked outrage among the CCU leaders and sympathetic M'birunan military leaders who were outraged by the thought of surrendering a city their soldiers had fought and died for. A disarmament weapons collection zone had been established within the city where M'birunan-aligned rebels could surrender their weapons and armaments. Using intelligence provided by the M'birunan military, the CCU infiltrated the city under the guise of surrendering rebels from other non-CCU aligned militias and identified potential vulnurabilities and weaknesses throughout Mtshelelele. In September the battle of Mtshelelele took place between CCU rebels against MPFM military and various rebels that were trapped within the city. The CCU had intended for the battle to only last one day, but it eventually morphed into a three-day vicious standoff. By the end of the battle the CCU had been defeated, with many casualties on both sides. This however proved to be too much for the CCU rebels as their manpower had been weakened to the point of being unable to sustain further prolonged insurgency against the country. An official investigation by the MPFM identified members of the M'biruna's military leadership who covertly supported the CCU and was able to leverage them to order the CCU to fully comply with the Nkomo Accords. By December 2007 the insurgency officially ended as CCU forces publicly agreed to abide by the Nkomo Accords in full.