[Xiomera]

21 February 2021


Conflict intensifies in Mallacaland

The ongoing conflict in Mallacaland shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, the uprising has escalated into what appears to now be a full-on civil war.

The government of King Hassan has been overthrown by his own Royal Guard, and the King has fled the capital. In his place, Hassan Ahmar, the commander of the Royal Guard, has seized power. Ahmar has been proclaimed the new King by the Regent and Council of Emirs, apparently under duress. King Hassan's whereabouts are currently unknown, although it is speculated that he may have fled with his remaining followers to seek shelter among warlords outside of Mallacaland. It is believed that he is attempting to flee to a friendly state such as Xiomera, in an attempt to establish a government in exile.

A group of Mallacan naval forces also attempted to attack Slokaisian naval units, resulting in a Slokaisian counter-attack and heavy damage to a Mallacan destroyer. A Slokaisian Coast Guard ship was also slightly damaged. In retaliation, Slokaisian air force units attacked a Mallacan airfield, causing heavy damage.

A group of Mallacan rebels have reportedly seized an armory from the Mallacan military, gaining control of a large supply of weapons. This has raised fears that the unrest in Mallacaland may morph into a three-way conflict between supporters of the former King Hassan, the new King Ahmar and the royal guard, and the rebels under the banner of Mallacaland Rising. Allegations of foreign involvement in the form of Milintican guerrillas have also been brought forth. In a formal statement today, the Milintican government denied official involvement and said that "any Milinticans in Mallacaland are acting on their own, acting on their personal values and love of freedom". The Milintican government said that it would not prevent its citizens from traveling to Mallacaland "as that would be an affront to their freedom and free will."

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Xiomera accuses opposition of coup plot, moves to shut down Unification Party

In an unexpected move, the Xiomeran government today announced that the Unification Party has been banned and its leaders detained after an alleged plot to overthrow the government.

Cuicanan, Xiomera's Minister of Justice, announced that longtime opposition leader Cozamalotl and many other members of the Unification Party have been arrested in connection to a recent armed assault on an Imperial Police garrison in the Zipacpepe neighborhood of the Xiomeran capital, Tlālacuetztla. The assault, which claimed the lives of three Imperial Police officers, "was part of an evil plot by the Unification Party to reverse the results of the January elections, in which their agenda was resoundingly rejected by the Xiomeran people," Cuicanan said. The Minister of Justice further added that the alleged plot was "supported and aided by foreign powers, and by the separatists calling themselves Huenyans." The Minister of Justice said that the detained Unification Party members will stand trial in one month on charges of high treason.

The Xiomeran Minister of State, Toquauhtli, also claimed that foreign powers, as yet unnamed, aided the alleged plot and warned that "further foreign terrorism or incitement to violence within Xiomera will result in a decisive and definitive Imperial response." The Minister of State also accused Milintica of involvement, a charge the Milintican government denied with the same claim of "volunteer civilian action" as claimed in Mallacaland.

Xiomera's electoral commission announced that a new set of elections will be held next month to replace the Unification Party members of the Imperial Parliament with members of the Xiomeran Citizens' Party, a move which will cement Xiomera's emerging status as a one-party state.

The Huenyan counterpart of the Unification Party of Xiomera, the UP-H, and the Central Committee of the Unification Party both issued statements condeming the ban on the Xiomeran wing of their party. "This move to ban the only opposition party left in Xiomera is just the latest evidence of the growing tyranny there," Cuetzhual, the president of the UP-H, said. "Our party is not involved in violence in any way and disavows the use of force in achieving political or societal change. There may well have been a plot to use force against Xiomera's government. Their government is one of the worst users of state-sponsored violence in the IDU, and such violence tends to spur a violent response from the oppressed. But our party was not involved, and Xiomera is using the incident in Zipacpepe as an excuse to suppress any political dissent."

The Chairperson of the Unification Party, Tiacihitli (who is also the Vice-Speaker of the Huenyan Federation) called the move against the UP-X "a vile suppression of dissent by an increasingly tyrannical regime bent on total control" and demanded the immediate release of Cozamalotl and the other Unification Party leaders who were detained. He also urged the international community to place pressure on Xiomera to release the opposition leaders.