Dewral Revolution
| Dewral Revolution | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Dewral Armando-Venegas Group | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Harald Vonnegut Aurélio Chai |
 Mahmadou Jolleh Bande Louis Tchikambi | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
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Escudo Company Espada Company | |||||||
The Dewral Revolution, also known as the 2023 Mabifian coup d'etat, was an insurrection in 2023 which overthrew the Republic of Mabifia and the government of Mahmadou Jolleh Bande. A new government was established and Mabifia was renamed Dewral.
Events
April 17
In the afternoon of April 17, major clashes broke out in the Mabifian capital city of Ouagedji as ex-Insigahanga militias affiliated with opposition to the Mabifian government attempted to take control of the city. Operatives of the Armando-Venegas Group, a private military company of Arboladan origin, also began fighting against security forces, possibly due to a dispute over the terms of their contract in the Makanian Conflict; just before the incident Armando Group contractors were reported to have played a decisive role in checking and routing a CPSNM offensive of unprecedented scale.
Militants attacked several key infrastructural locations and landmarks in Ouagedji. This included the Bacharach Center, where president Mahmadou Jolleh Bande was attending a meeting, when the assault forced him to seek refuge with a military entourage. Mayoral and security authorities declared a state of emergency, and the Mabifian National Armed Forces moved heavily armed units with armored vehicles and helicopters into Ouagedji to suppress the militants.
The clashes were decisively ended within hours with the MNAF and other security forces regaining control of Ouagedji, also storming Bacharach Center and arresting Armando Group executives. However, massive discontent with Jolleh Bande's government led to widespread popular suspicions that the attacks would be used (if not orchestrated) to allow the president to claim emergency powers and crack down on opposition. The deployment of army units in particular was seen as part of a self-coup on Jolleh Bande's part, and protests assembled even before the militants were fully defeated. Army units refused to move out from the city, citing security concerns especially during the protests.
During the evening of April 17, the protests turned into riots; demonstrators declared themselves to be preventing a coup, storming government offices and radio-television studios. Armed supporters of the political opposition began street fighting with security forces. While the MNAF began a crackdown in the capital city in response, army units in other parts of the country remained inert. Some of them were later reported to have been disarmed by Armando Group contractors in preemptive strikes, or ordered to stand down by sympathetic commanders. The rest of the army's response raised speculations that the actions in the capital were planned only by a narrow clique, and further fuelled the opposition's cause.
Protesters who stormed television offices made broadcasts that declared Mabifia to be renamed Dewral, to symbolize a move away from the 'stagnation and lethargy' associated with the country's history under that name since independence in 1942. When they were violently expelled by army troops, this name change became the rallying symbol of opposition forces, although the idea was already popular enough among Mabifian dissidents that the broadcasts themselves were prepared in advance with high production quality.
April 18
Street fighting continued through midnight. By the morning of April 18 government forces had regained the upper hand in Ouagedji. However, at mid-day Armando Group operatives launched a multi-pronged airborne assault on Ouagedji, taking control of its airport and several other key locations; anti-government militants also resumed their attacks. Massive destruction occurred across the city from the use of heavy weaponry. Having been dislodged from important positions, taken unexpectedly heavy losses, and now confronting resumed civilian protests, many units of the MNAF in Ouagedji defected and stood down, especially as units in other parts of the country continued to stay put.
Rebel forces were decentralized and represented by no single authority. After seizing control of media centers, they communicated to the public only the ouster of Jolleh Bande, and the renaming of Mabifia to Dewral, as the political changes that would occur.
Some units identified as under the command of general Louis Tchikambi, who established an emergency committee, continued to resist the insurrection. By night, however, they were being besieged in the MNAF's headquarters complex, and soon surrendered. The opposition remained ambiguous about their control of the situation and the concrete political changes to be made.