War in Nuranz
| War in Nuranz | ||||||||
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| File:WarinNuranz1.jpg Clockwise from top left: Estmerish soldiers on patrol; two F-18 Strike Fighters; an Al-Haras Militant during a skirmish with Federation troops; a Army convoy engages Al-Haras; Marines prepare to assault enemy stronghold; Rangers during a search-and-destroy mission; Army mortar pit fires on enemy positions during fighting near the capital. | ||||||||
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| Belligerents | ||||||||
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File:Nuranz Flag.png Republic of Nuranz  PMF |
File:780px-Flag of al-Qaeda.png Al-Haras
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Supported by
File:Thick White.png Muradi Badawiya | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | ||||||||
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File:Nuranz Flag.png Mohammed Abadhaya File:Negaraflag.png Adi Melatri |
File:780px-Flag of al-Qaeda.png Adil Hussein  |
 Rakad Salem Masood Hashem | ||||||
| Strength | ||||||||
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Federation: 4,180 | 7-10,000 | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | ||||||||
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Federation: 3,120 | 10-20,000 |
Civilian | ||||||
The War in Nuranz is a military conflict that has been occurring in the country of Nuranz since May of 2001, with support from the Federation of Asteria since 2009. The War, a result of bitterness between vastly different cultures within the same nation, began officially on May 18th, 2001 after a car bomb killed 162 people at a post office in the capital of Gubatshi. After the terrorist group Al-Haras, the group responsible for the war, overthrew the Republic in December of 2008, the Federation was forced to step in and assist by conducting a bombing campaign known as Operation Desert Torch and supplying resistance, while also providing Humanitarian aid. However, the Brock Attacks, which claimed almost 300 Asterian lives, forced the Federation to act with force. A swift invasion followed, which led to the liberation of the capital and reestablishment of the Republic in July of 2009. However, Federation and Republic troops would battle through Nuranz, city by city, in an attempt to eradicate Al-Haras. Now, the war has slowed greatly with the containment of Al-Haras in most areas. The death of Al-Haras' leader, Adil Hussein, in August of 2016 was a major blow at the charred husk of the terrorist group, and it has since been replaced by the Badawiyan Liberation Front as a primary combatant.
Background
Civil Conflicts
Early War
Outbreak of Conflict
While mistrust, uneasiness, and occasional conflict between the Bahian majority and the Badawiyan minority had been common for decades, the events that would lead to the largest genocide in Coian history did not begin until the extremist group known as Al-Haras took shape and began making itself known. The organization, a Badawiyan extremist group that believes in the supremacy of their people over the Bahians, and were determined to seize control of the nation's government. Throughout the late 90s, Al-Haras became prominent through it's many rallies which subsequently caused small, isolated incidents of violence. Though, the emergence of Al-Haras was largely overlooked by the predominantly-Bahian Nuraniz government due to long-existing tensions between the two ethnic groups, so the efforts of the organization went unnoticed and unchecked. Throughout the year 2000, however, Al-Haras picked up with the frequency and intensity of their attacks - beginning to carry out small-scale shootings in bars, restaurants, banks, and other public areas. Though, what kicked off major conflicts was the Gubatshi Car Bombing. On May 18th, 2001, a car bomb was set off outside of a post office in the Nurani capital of Gubatshi, killing 127 people. The attack, which was the most deadly in the nation's history, was claimed by the terrorist organization who by that point boasted a massive paramilitary force, and as a result, the Republic of Nuranz declared a State of Emergency and opened active military operations against Al-Haras.
Early Republican Counter-Terror Operations
After the Gubatshi Car Bombing, the Nurani Government was forced to act against this very new, and very dangerous threat. Government troops were deployed to regions suspected to harbor large groups of Al-Haras combatants, and as a result, heated military engagements occurred. Through the rest of 2001, the nation was a state of chaos as the Government tried to quell Al-Haras, but the organizations long-standing roots and connections made it difficult to fight. In addition, the utilization of guerrilla tactics and psychological warfare (i.e. using children and women for suicide bombings) took a heavy toll on the Nurani Republican Army. This primarily because it was designed for strict defense, and was not equipped nor trained to deal with terror to such an extent, within it's own borders. Despite the horrific task the Republican Army faced, they did claim many victories early on, but the power and influence of Al-Haras became too much to contain, and the strength of the military started to buckle by mid-2002.
Genocide
National Collapse
The war did not truly become a war until March of 2003, when Al-Haras claimed their first conventional victory over the Nurani Republican Army in the First Battle of Mecica. The Nurani Army had come to expect guerrilla-like tactics from Al-Haras, as previous exchanges had been nothing but, so they were thrown off guard when truckloads of Jihadists began storming through the so-called "Badawiyan Capital of Nuranz" Over a period of three weeks, the Nurani Republican Army battled with Al-Haras combatants in and around Mecica, but found themselves outnumbered. On the third week of battle, the remaining 200 Nurani troops of the some 5,000 Nurani soldiers sent to Mecica found themselves surrounded at the Mosque in the center of the city. They held out for more than 12 hours against an onslaught of Al-Haras fighters, an estimated 1,500, before being wiped out. The city fully fell to Al-Haras just hours later, and the organization soon declared themselves a Caliphate.
Led by Adil Hussein, the self-proclaimed Caliphate saw a massive surge in their influence with the capture of Mecica, and would use it as a launching point for future operations. Al-Haras fighters began spreading out through the northern, predominantly Badawiyan, region of the country. They were met with fierce resistance by the Nurani Army, but also found an enemy in dozens of small groups that would later expand and form the Badawiyan Liberation Front.
These groups believed in Badawiyan Independence from greater Nuranz, and while Salamic, did not share the radical ideals and goals of Al-Haras. By organizing small militias, they stood against Al-Haras' advance whenever they could - esspecially along the Silver Coast, where they were determined to stop the terrorist group from gaining control of Nuranz' most valuable resource.
Though, despite the resistance given by the Nurani Republican Army and smaller militas, Al-Haras grew and expanded. By mid-2004, the Nurani military abandoned Donfura and the Northern province completely, and Al-Haras spread through, now with almost no resistance. It would be the start of what many Badawiyans called "civil genocide." Al-Haras went village to village enforcing their rule, and anyone who opposed them, and anyone seen as a threat, was summarily executed. The Quaran, the religious book of Salam, became a book of law, rather than tradition, and any perpetrators were punished severely. Often times, however, the perpetrator was not directly punished, but would be forced to watch their families be killed and/or tortured - often by firing squad, beheading, or being burned alive. Fear became the primary enforcer of peace and subjugation, for many would rather live under the rule of Extremists than risk death. The terror brought forth by Al-Haras was not isolated to the north, but spread throughout the entire country. Most of the country's cities faced a series of mass shootings, suicide bombings, and attempted uprisings throughout 2004 and well into 2005, and similar tactics would be employed in the future.
By March of 2006, Al-Haras had developed into a juggernaut - a real, organized, and deadly military force. Having claimed countless victories over the Nurani Republican Army, they were now in possession of armored vehicles, a small army of tanks, military-grade equipment, and various other military assets. The terrorist organization began to spread throughout the northern provinces of the country like a wildfire - it's influence gripped parts of Nuranz and suffocated the country. This had put enormous pressure on the Nurani Army, and Nurani president Emmanuel Bahar, who was quickly losing control of his country. On February 5th, 2007, President Bahar dropped an executive order that pulled the Republican Army from the Badawiyan provinces, and greatly restricted their influence in the central portions of the country. The Nurani Government said these actions were to "regroup and reevaluate the situation", but for many, it was a sign that the Government had abandoned them. Al-Haras was now virtually unapposed in the north.
Even before the order dropped, the Nurani Government was falling apart. Nuranz' parliament was losing it's power as President Bahar exerted his emergency powers. Resentment between Parliament and the President had become a normality, but the order to retreat from northern Nuranz drove a major wedge between the President and the Military. In the eyes of the Generals, Bahar had both disregarded their opinions and undermined their power, while also disrespecting their authority. As Al-Haras began expanding, slaughtering thousands as they went, the Nurani Government began collapsing. Dozens of generals - namely General Menna Nassur - began plotting President Bahar's downfall.
On March 16th, 2007, the Nurani Republican Army turned on the President, and Parliament. Nurani troops siezed control of the capital - imprisoning President Bahar and issuing marshal law. Parliament lost all of it's powers, and General Nassur assumed full control of the country. The southern, predominately Bahian parts of the country were under control of the Military, while the rest was either under the horrific shadow of Al-Haras, or a warzone. It was in March, 2007, that the Nurani Genocide would reach the millions.
There were many methods Al-Haras used to inflict their mass murder upon the Nurani people, and they were all equally horrific. One of the most common were "Jihad Death Squads" that went from village to village, exterminating its entire population. Larger towns that housed both ethnic groups often saw the entire Bahian population murdered to make way for Badawiyan living. Though, direct murder wasn't the only way Bahians suffered - Al-Haras was known to use Bahian women and children as human shields in battle, and place Bahian men in suicide squads - their task being simply to charge the enemy with grenades or pistols. Bahians were also used for slave labor in helping with the war effort, and thousands of Bahian children were forced to dig in mines, often with their bare hands, for diamonds and precious materials. Those who didn't find enough, were killed.
A common misconception about the War in Nuranz, and the deadly genocide around it, is that it was strictly Badawiyans killing Bahians. This is false. While Badawiyans (Al-Haras) did most of the killings, a large number of Badawiyans were also killed off by Bahians out of retaliation. The most known example of the Bahian Genocide of Badawiyans was at the province of :INSERT NAME:, an enclave of Badawiyans located in the far south of the country. Before the war, it housed more than 150,000 people, but by late-2007, a mere 36,000 were left. This was the result of a vengeful Nurani Republican Army, Bahian resistance groups, and lastly, the largest killer in the Nurani Genocide: starvation.
In the Nurani Genocide, there were thousands who were worked to death, used as weapons, or simply shot en masse, but the largest killer, by far, was mass starvation. Whether it be by siege, destruction of agriculture do to warfare, or the simply inability and lack of money within the Government to properly feed it's population, the amount of people who would die from starvation far exceeded those murdered directly. A study taken by Crocker University in 2015 estimated that around 79% of those killed in the Nurani Genocide died from starvation. Of the some 4.1 million people who were killed during the Genocide, around 3.2 million starved to death. It was during this time that the world was forced into action, and various countries and international organizations began trying to help.
International Aid
Individual countries, such as the Federation, Gaullica, Negara, Caesena, and Senouillac, made their own attempts to provide humanitarian support for the Nurani people - with the Asterians leading the effort. Starting in 2007, military planes from bases in Negara would drop shipments of food, medicine, and even weapons, to help the people resist Al-Haras. A small unit of Federal forces was stationed in Gubatshi, where they received supplies and transported them via helicopter to parts of the country that were harder to reach, or under strict control of the terrorist organization. This would, eventually, cause the May Day Incident, where a crew of Federal soldiers were shot down, taken prisoner, and executed on live TV. This would be the catalyst for the Federation's later decision to carry out real military operations in Nuranz.
Despite the efforts of the Federation and other countries, their efforts never gained the sort of traction, or recognition, they'd hoped. Their intentions were always at question, and for the most part, countries like Kaxakh saw this as a DITO attempt at forcibly asserting their influence into Badawiya. It wasn't until the International White Cross stepped in in early 2010 that the involved countries were looked at, to an extent, in a better light.