Zemplen Resolution Campaign
Zemplen Resolution Campaign | |||||||
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Part of the Zemplen Conflict | |||||||
Syaran security forces in Zemplen | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Syara | SDM | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Saša Mlinarić Zhivko Hristovski Dragomir Zhelev | Vakhtang Tavdgiridze | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Ministry of Security Galanian Territorial Forces | SDM supporters | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
25,000 personnel (peak) | ~30,000 members and supporters | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
663 killed 2,544 wounded |
412 killed ~2,000 wounded 7,000 arrested |
The Zemplen Resolution Campaign was the name given by the Government of Syara to Syaran actions against the Zemplen separatist group SDM between 1990 to 2005.
After their failure to secure independence during the Refusal War, the SDM began a sustained campaign of targetted killings, assasinations, and bombings against the newly founded Commonality of Syara in an effort to convince Syara to abandon control of Zemplen. Following a series of assasinations in 1989 and early 1990, Executive Saša Mlinarić dispatched the Syaran Ministry of Security to Zemplen. The goal of the deployment, which came to be dubbed the REsolution Campaign within Syaran government circles and the media, was ostensibly desgined to support Zemplen's local law enforcement while undermining the SDM through mass arrests and assasinations of SDM leadership. At its peak in 1998, around 25,000 Syaran security personnel were involved in the operation in one form or another.
The SDM waged a guerrilla campaign against the Ministry of Security in the form of shootings and bombings during the 1990s, while also attempting to assasinate Syaran political leaders both in Zemplen and greater Syara. The Syarans attempted to undermine the SDM by exploiting divisions within the Karvelebi nationalist community and installing pro-Syaran leaders in office within Zemplen's regional government. The violence escalated to its highest point under Executive Zhivko Hristovski, which culminated in the 1997 Sopron Bombing. The deadliest terrorist attack in Syaran history, the bombing is largely seen as a turning point in the campaign as it cost the SDM support even from traditionally friendly states and organizations.
SDM activities entered into a decline after 1998, during which Syaran security forces arrested or killed several prominent SDM leaders. By 2002 violence within Zemplen had reached a 20 year low, and a Syaran victory seemed inevitable. A proper resolution to the campaign was never achieved due to the growing tensions between Syara and Ruvelka, which resulted in the Imerti Conflict in 2005, which casued the campaign to be declared over just a month later. While the SDM declared its willingness to continue to fight, it played only a minor part in the tensions that led to the outbreak of the Zemplen War, which afterwards saw Zemplen transferred to Ruvelkan control. By 2012 the 'old guard' of the SDM had faded into obscurity and new leadeership began disarming, and the organization was dissolved officially in 2018.
According to the Syaran government, 663 Security personnel were killed during the Resolution campaign, with another 2,544 wounded. Although never fully confirmed, the SDM reported 412 members killed between 1990 to 2005, with roughly 2,000 more wounded. Over 7,000 SMD members and supporters were arrested during the campaign, 228 of which are still imprisoned in Syara.