Biulundo conflict

Biulundo conflict
Part of Ethnic violence in Apatonia and the Apatonia Civil War
Apatonian forces prepare for a counterattack on LDF positions in Dori, November 5th, 2021
Date 3 September 2017 – ongoing (7 years, 2 months and 3 weeks) Location Apatonia Spillovers in Thezu and Unified Sera
Participants
Apatonia Federal Forces	Lukonde Loyalists	CCAMSA	Lundia Defense Forces Al-Fijar
Strength
150,000	350,000	2,000	72,523
Casualties and losses
12,659 killed, 9,921 wounded	23,129 killed, 37,282 wounded	14 peacekeepers killed, 62 wounded	Unknown
90,000 violent deaths 121,000 total deaths (January 2022)
200,000+ civilians have fled Apatonia and 1,100,000+ civilians internally displaced (as of 2021)

The Apatonia Civil War, also known as the Biulundo Conflict, is an ongoing multi-sided civil war in Apatonia between forces of the government and opposition forces. Beginning in 2017, the Lundia Defense Forces, an al-Fijar affiliated rebel group in the easternmost province of Lundia, began fighting the federal government under President Asyuer Odoyo. Intially the fighting began as a declaration of separatist intention from the LDF, but evolved into a desire to distance the country from ethnic federalism and ethnic nationalist politics, while some LDF factions wish to form an Islamic caliphate in Apatonia. Due to the onset of the war, a deep humanitarian crisis has developed.

Mlamuli Ngotsha was elected President in 2018, inheriting the conflict and making significant gains against the rebels. Insurgent activity largely declined by the end of 2018 and the conflict stayed restrained to Lundia province in sporadic clashes, until the September 2021 fall of Biulundo to the rebels, which resulted in the Coalition of Crown Albatross Mission in Southern Adula (CCAMSA) sending hundreds of additional peacekeepers to the region. Federal forces began to be pushed back by the end of 2021, and a political crisis between Ngotsha and Prime Minister Michel Lukonde unfolded as Ngotsha suspended Lukonde's powers, delayed elections, and reformed the constitution. Lukonde and his supporters in the National Army subsequently took control of several government offices in the capital of Sifondo. Ngotsha survived an assassination attempt on January 1st 2022. On January 2nd 2022, LDF insurgents attacked multiple international consulates and triggered diplomatic suspensions. On January 17th 2022, Lukonde led a coup that ousted Ngotsha.

About 120,000 people were estimated to have been killed in the war by January 2022, including notable atrocities such as the 2018 Intupo massacre and the 2021 Dori massacre. More than 200,000 civilians have fled Apatonia, largely to Unified Sera, Timeria, and Austrolis, and more than a million people have been internally displaced. Fighting in the agricultural heartland in the center of the country caused the number of people facing starvation to soar to 4 million, causing famine in 2018 in some areas. The country's economy has also been devastated.

War crimes

Numerous war crimes have been committed by the LDF rebel factions as well as Apatonian government forces during the civil war.

In April 2018, Lutharian observers claimed LDF forces summarily executed dozens of civilians in two towns (Guyab and Robo) they controlled in Lundia.

On October 24th 2021, the Lundia Defense Forces were accused by the CCA Human Rights Council and Lutharian observers of extrajudicially killing 400–500 villagers in the town of Dori. A visit by the Tofino Times found many unburied corpses, some in military clothing. Residents said that LDF forces had killed villagers who had resisted looting but also blamed Apatonian federal forces for abandoning the villagers to defend themselves unaided.

On November 4th, 2021, Caspiaan watchdogs issued an emergency alert stating that "both sides are committing genocide", referring to detentions of thousands of people based on Ista or Kjanta ethnic identity, and arguing that "Prime Minister Michel Lukonde's hate speech and calls for war" and that the "LDF is perpetrating conflict with no regard for hiding their atrocities."