Tofino Times | 5-17-2021

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TOFINO - President Moreau and Secretary of State Vallotis signed executive action declarations today that instituted crippling sanctions on the Birat government and the regime of President Alan Meidan, as well as issuing travel bans to and from Birat and strict warnings against international intervention that breaches sovereignty of Zamastanian allies and neutral states alike. President Moreau in a released statement said that "the Meidan regime is putting millions of lives in the region at risk by his violent actions and repression of civil liberties. Additionally, the governments of North Timeria and Estoca in their intervention are furthering deepening divides and aggression by breaching the trust of international communities in the conduct of total silence and discretion with military operations."

A major offensive on Sunday and Monday by the People's Democratic Army (PDA) rebel forces has resulted in major casualties and extensive fighting, with Birat sources claiming over 7,000 deaths nationwide. The Z.I.S. believes that the true number of casualties are not as high as domestic Birat sources are stating, due to the conflicting nature of reports, but they acknowlegde that the fighting is intense and has certainly resulted in over a thousand deaths. Fighting is exceptionally violent in the city of Alicent, as well as near the nation's largest airport, Alicent International (AIXX), where Timerian fighter jets have reportedly been stationed and have conducted aerial strikes from.

Zamastanian government sources have stated that there is a humanitarian crisis unfolding as regime and rebel forces alike are conducting operations in civilian areas. Several nations have committed to air dropping relief supplies, but the Zamastanian government has avoided doing so because of the volatile nature of the conflict. Additionally, the Z.I.S. and the Zamastanian Department of Defense have stated that the line of distinction between regime forces and rebels has been difficult to discern, which translates to the familiarity of the recently concluded military operations in West Chanchajilla.

The Meidan regime came to power in a coup in 2019, after which they implemented severe crackdowns on freedom of speech and civil liberties. They became posed internationally alongside such dictatorships as Martin Saint-Yves in Ossinia and Frederick Armbar in West Chanchajilla. In June of 2020, Saint-Yves was overthrown by Zamastanian forces. More recently in 2021, Frederick Armbar was overthrown by East Chanchajillan and Parabocan forces. The Z.I.S. believes that the most recent crackdowns by Meidan were in order to quell any resistance to his regime and to consolidate his power as totalitarians nearby were being deposed.

Meanwhile, Zamastan's legislature in Congressional Hall is debating any further actions. Timeria, a key Zamastanian ally in Adula, has put Zamastan in a difficult position with their encroachment of East Chanchajillan and Avergnonian territory in order to transport their military equipment into Birat. On top of that, Zamastanian politicians have expressed concern over the involvement of Estoca in the crisis, as only recently they had introduced new mediation with Estoca in a Jyau summit.

"Estoca has historically involved themselves in situations that are threatening to national security interests," said Speaker of the Chamber, Natasha Chastain. "Whether it's their action towards Paraboca, their assertiveness on the world stage, it presents an issue that Timeria is being allowed by their government to establish a dangerous precedent in Birat." Amidst the clashes, Birat federal forces accidentally crossed the East Chanchajillan border on Monday and engaged with Eastern forces, resulting in numerous injuries on the Eastern side. There are fears that the East Chanchajillan incident will spark even more international involvement, which Moreau and his cabinet are strongly advising against.

"Of course we plead for the end of the conflict in a diplomatic manner," Secretary Vallotis stated, "but we cannot continue to see international states bringing in military involvement to this situation. War breeds war, and we've seen that today. There has been no work toward negotiation so far, and that needs to be the priority. We emplore the governments of Estoca and Timeria to stand down and leave the situation in military terms. Continue humanitarian prospects, but do not inflame the violence."

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TOFINO - Timeria's air strikes on the Meidan regime in Birat, coming amid the previously intensifying violence in South Adula have forced the world on to President Moreau's agenda amid new questions about how his emphasis on human rights applies to those in the self-declared Republic of Cambria, which is controlled by an insurgent force many have called terrorists.

It has also laid bare the extent to which the Alecburgh right has been empowered in occupied Cambria during the Prime Ministership of Benjamin Warren and now the administration of PM Sparrow Creed. Unrest there sparked wider battles, and could draw the Moreau administration more deeply into the longstanding civil conflict even after this latest seismic eruption abates.

That's a prospect President Moreau and his senior advisers would like to avoid.

They've made clear their diplomatic priorities lie elsewhere. Until now they've adopted a low-key minimalist approach in this graveyard of Zamastanian-led peace initiatives, quietly trying to restore some elements of Zamastanian policy upended by the Sakzi administration's unabashedly pro-national stance.

That has meant concentrating on repairing ruptured relations with the Cambrian citizens, and voicing rhetorical support for a viable Cambrian state as key to a lasting peace with Alecburgh. The extent of Zamastanian involvement thus far has been the deployment of a few hundred troops to Saint Croix and Bens and thinly worded statements.

But they've calculated the prospects for a new round of negotiations as bleak, and are determined to shift the focus of Zamastanian foreign policy to De Yuan. That has already led to issues, as Yuan begins to intervene in Alecburgh and deploy forces to the region.

With that said, the Cambrian government is largely controlled by a violent insurgent group who have committed terrible attacks against Alecburghian citizens and even today a bombing in neighboring Cyruda.

The sudden shifts in focus all across the world this week has seen a return to a traditional pattern. In public statements the president and his Secretary of State have forcefully repeated the standard Zamastanian formula about Cambria's right to declare independence and the right to self-defence in the face of Alecburghian aggression. The terrorist attacks by disconnected individuals, however, have thrown this stance into chaos.

While expressing concern about the mounting number of Alecburgians killed in terror attacks, Secretary Vallotis has drawn a "clear and absolute distinction" between "a terrorist organisation targeting civilians, and Alecburgh… targeting the terrorists". Moreau has seen no "significant overreaction" in the Alecburghian response to the barrage of terror, a judgment that some analysts took as an implicit green light for the operation to continue, despite Zamastanian calls for calm and demilitarization by PM Creed.

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