Fahel War

Fahel War
Part of Sarvatian-Zubaydi Conflict
Interior Ministry Troops during the Battle of Dorakhar
Date 13 April 2014 – 17 May 2014 (34 days) Location Fahel State Result Both sides claim victory Sarvatian forces expelled from Zubaydi territory on 14 May Crackdown on the 2013-2014 Fahel Protests ends Kalaghamut Agreement signed by both sides in July 2014
Belligerents
Zubaydah	Sarvatia
Commanders and leaders
Chairman Hamza al-Quysi Premier Amanullah Azd al-Uqayli Lt. Gen Abd al-Rahman al-Suwaydi MajGen Naji Hassan al-Bakr MajGen René Bachir Gen. Nasr al-Haq (Commander of Interior Troops) Lt. Col Toufic Daoud Bazri (Commander of ZASOF) MajGen. Sa'if al-Neyadi (Commander of the Military Intelligence Derectorate) Governor Daifallah al-Zenkawi	Premier Sasan Hedayati Chairman Kamran Rostami Haajid el-Tariq (General) Jahangir Bagherzadeh (Lt. General) Zafran Pasha (Major General) Abdulghafur Qasim (Brig. General) Nazar Inguilizian (Colonel) Hassan Gharibian (Comiss. General of the State Security Forces) Arshad el-Hashmi (Colonel of the State Security Forces)
Units involved
Units Involved: 1st Corps 17th Motorized Infantry Brigade 18th Motorized Infantry Brigade 20th Motorized Infantry Brigade 3rd Field Artillery Brigade 3rd Corps 3rd Light Infantry Brigade 8th Light Infantry Brigade 3rd Armored Brigade 7th Armored Brigade Ministry of Interior 1st Rapid Reponse Battalion 3rd Light Infantry Battalion 4th Border Security Battalion 1st Internal Security Detachment 2nd Reconnaissance and Target Acquisition Battalion 'al-Qahhar' Unit 747 First Airbourne Battalion 'ar-Rukh' Task Force Sawt (MID)	tbd
Strength
25,000+	40,000
Casualties and losses
1,217 killed in action	2,041 killed in action
572 Civilians killed

The Fahel War (Khatti: حرب الفحل; Harb al-Fahl, Sarvati: جنگ فاهل; Jang-e Fahl) also known as the 34-day War and the Operation Guardian of the Toilers was a conflict fought from 13 April 2014 to 17 May 2014 between Zubaydah and Sarvatia. The conflict began as a military incursion by Sarvatia after alleging that Zubaydah was attempting to violently repress ethnic Sarvati protestors in the state of Fahel. The incursions escalated into a full on advance after Zubaydi border security forces failed to fight during the initial stages of the conflict. Troops from the Zubaydi Ministry of Interior were able to fight Sarvatian forces at Dorakhar, Suq al-Zour, and Haram-e Mardak. Zubaydi army forces would organize and arrive, after fighting several battles near the border, the Zubaydi Army was able to push Sarvatian forces back across the border, after a planned and organized retreat from combat.

The conflict reached beyond the Fahel State. Task Force Sawt, a Military Intelligence Directorate unit was sent to the Baloch SSR and made contact with Nahzat-e Azadi. It is reported by Sarvatia (denied by Zubaydah) that the Sawt Task Force was sent to engineer the May Incidents, which included several coordinated attacks against Military Bases, Police Stations, and Party Headquarters in the city of Mandar. This was followed by NA militants taking control of the SSR's Supreme Soviet. There were similar incidents in the Khatt SSR involving Rabitat al-Mujahidin wal-Muahidin which conducted several attacks on important infrastructure. Most notably their attacks along Freeway 9 which served as an important logistics route for invading forces.

The conflict was claimed as a victory for both sides. Zubaydah was able to fight Sarvatian forces off of its territory before a formal end to the conflict, while Sarvatia saw the invasion as a success as it put pressure on Zubaydi political forces to deal with the Faheli Sarvatis more cautiously. The conflict also served to help secure Premier Amanullah Azd al-Uqayli’s position within the government. His introduction of the Zubaydi Interior Troops was seen as a success and effectively gave al-Uqayli a personal paramilitary, with their success in the conflict cementing their position within the government structure. The Conflict came to an end on 17 May after a formal ceasefire was declared, later that July the two sides would sign the Kalaghamut Agreement, which set out provisions for further conflicts at the border to be settled diplomatically and set out new border policies for both side, although no agreements on territorial changes were made.

Course of the War

Initial Border Confrontation

From 26 Febury to 20 March, there were multiple clashes at the border between Zubaydah and Sarvatia stemming from mounting political tensions as a result of the protests. The most intense of these clashes would occure between 7 March and 10 March when Elements of the Sarvati State Security Forces fired upon a Zubaydi Border Police station near Kabeer in the northern section of Fahel State. These clashes resulted in multiple injuries on both sides, and the destruction of a border crossing, but no recorded fatalities.

later that week in Warad District another border incursion would flare up. The Sarvati Army would place a Kafan-1 ECM device on the border near the Nafaq al-Af'a Border Crossing. Zubaydi forces, belonging to the Border Security Force - Rapid Response Unit "Shakush" would cross the border and disable to the Kafan-1, with a minor firefight stemming from the operation. Zubaydi forces claiming the unit was intended to diruspt legal aviation operations on the border. While Sarvatia claimed the unit was put into place to counter Zubaydi use of UAV Reconnaissance. The last major border altercation would happen between 19 March and 20 March. Local Protestors had organized a large march in the city of Baghcheh. At roughly the same time, United of the Sarvatian Military would attack a Border Security Force station along the Ghabari Hills. The attack included small arms fire and light mortar strikes, the confrontation would last 7 hours and leave two men dead on both sides, Zubaydis Pvt. Abdullah Hassani and Lcp. Ali Nasr al-Ruhti would be killed by a mortar strike hitting their observation post. While Sarvatian Pvt. Qasim Soomekh would die after being shot by a sniper while running ammunition to a machine gun nest. Pvt. Gholam Tabrizi would be severly injured by a sniper and eventually die two day later. In total, there were about 48 injuries between the two sides during this confrontation.

Rumors and Mobilization

On March 21st there were reports that Zubaydi Internal Troops were moving equipment up from the south, into Fahel State in order to help counter protests in the region. The Internal Troops were moving equipment along with the army, who had started to mobilize after the increase in tensions along the border. Social Media accounts posted videos and photos of the military equipment being moved, with multiple claims being made by various accounts. One account claimed that the vehicles were military and that they were heading to the border to prop up the border police. Another one claimed that they belong to Internal Troops heading to Qalbedirh, the capital of Fahel state and where protests had been most active and violent.

Rumors quickly began to spread that armed interior troops were beginning to amass and violently suppress protestors in the city. Sarvatia had been tuned into these claims and on the 23rd publicly called for Zubaydah to retrain itself in the region, publically giving credence to those same rumors. Governor of Fahel Daifallah al-Zenkawi rebuffed these claims in a joint press conference with Chairman of the Federal Council Hamza al-Quysi stating that the build up in military forces was directly in response to repeated Sarvati incursions on the border. Sarvatia would in turn build up military forces along the border, particularly around the a stretch of the border between Nafaq al-Af'a and Wadi al-Lazurd where the terrain was flatter than the surrounding hills.

A series of minor conflict would continue along the border. Zubaydah would experience difficulties in transporting men and equipment into the region, as a result Zubaydi Internal Troops would be called up and sent into the region to help ensure a defensive posture along the border. Between 23 March and 10 April a total of 16 men would be killed in border skirmishes. Both Sarvatia and Zubaydah would continue to escalate rhetoric. Governor al-Zenkawi would claim that Sarvatia was using the internal tensions as a pretext for conquest of the region, claiming that Sarvatians intended to expel Khatts in the region and make way for further Sarvati settlement in Fahel. Sarvatia would claim that the reason for escalated tensions would be pressure Zubaydah into reconciling with the protestors. On 11 April Zubaydi forces would use artillery to disrupt Sarvati positions along the border. Later that night a car bomb would strike the Mahabat al-Rasul Mosque in Qalbedirh. Zubaydah would claim that it was the work of Fadayan-e Mellat, and immediately place the city under lockdown as they attempted to find the terrorist. However a later inquiry by the state in 2017 would find that the source of the explosion came from a Ministry of Interior truck improperly holding old artillery shells.

Sarvatia, fearing a violent reprisal against ethnic sarvatis in the city, would active their forces, Battle Plan E would see Sarvati military forces cut through the al-Af'a Gap between Nafaq al-Af'a and Wadi al-Lazurd, and then swing towards the cities of Baghcheh and Qalbedirh. With the first target of the attack being the city of Makan al-Dayiq.

Battle of Makan al-Dayiq

At 11:28 pm On 13 April, Sarvati fighter jets crossed the border into Zubaydi airspace and struck several pieces of communications infrastructure. Zubaydi air defense was not able to shoot down any part of the initial defense, but was enough to limit the reach of the Sarvatian attack. Sarvati troops would cross the border soon after, facing resistance from Border Guard forces who would within the next few hours surrender under intense firepower disparity. Limited air combat was dampened by night time conditions.

Sarvati soldiers would break through the Nafaq al-Af'a Border Crossing and quickly make there way towards the city. Police and Border Guards attempted to put up resistance to the Sarvati advance but only had limited success in slowing their overall progress. Zubaydi Internal Troops would make their way into the city but with limited heavy weaponry, and establish defensive positions within the city itself as well as attempting to choke off advances around the city. Sarvati troops would enter the city at 5:12am on 14 April. Met with stiff but ultimately inconsistent defense from Internal Troops. By 1:37pm the town was effectively surrounded on three sides by Sarvati army forces, and with daylight came renewed air and artillery assault.

Zubaydi military forces at this time were still mostly outside of Fahel State and were using antiquated road systems to deliver logistics to the frontlines. There was a severe lack of mobilization infrastructure in the region. Internal Troops who had been forward deployed in the region for months made up the bulk of the forces being sent into the front. With Gen. Nasr al-Haq leading the majority of the organizational effort. By early 15 April the vast majority of the Interior Troops in the city had been pushed out, with the exception of the 1st Rapid Response Battalion which still held out in the south central Afriya District of the city. Elements of the 3rd Light Trooper Battalion would organize a successful counter attack into Sarvati held portions of the city, in what would be the first victory for Zubaydi forces in the war. The majority of the Zubaydi forces in Afriya District would evacuate and retreat deeper into the hills. Makan al-Dayiq would officially be captured by Sarvati forces on 16 April after a series of clean up operations.