The Lauchenoirian government announced yesterday that they were classifying the Warriors of Our Earth – a breakaway faction of the Watchdogs of Our Earth which endorses the use of violence – as a terrorist organisation. This comes after 21 individuals claiming to be members of the Warriors group were arrested in Seahaven, Butterfly Island, for seizing control of a government building in the heart of the city.
The building, which serves as headquarters for the Butterfly Island provincial government, was seized by the Warriors of Our Earth on Sunday 15th November, but was only retaken yesterday by government forces. Opposition parties are set to question the government on why this operation took so long, and why the seizure of the building was not reported. Butterfly Island authorities had previously stated that the building was evacuated due to asbestos being uncovered during routine plumbing work.
No statement has been released from the Warriors, however Watchdogs’ primary social media accounts have all linked to a statement from the main WOE organisation denouncing the classification of the Warriors faction as a terrorist organisation, claiming this is an “attack on civil liberties” and accusing Prime Minister Alvarez of being a “dictator in disguise and puppet of Shuell” for her actions. Shuell classified WOE as a whole as a terrorist organisation last Wednesday.
Lauchenoiria has become the third nation to classify at least part of WOE as a terrorist group, following denunciations of the group by both Shuell and Xiomera within the last week. The National Shuellian Broadcasting Network (NSBN) called WOE a “radical anarcho-primitivist organization, with the goal of destroying modern society and any semblance of civility”, while Xiomera decried the influence of “foreign-manipulated terrorism” in their present civil conflict.
Prime Minister Josephine Alvarez is set to make a statement to the Federal Parliament later today in which she will “explain the rationale” behind the false information given on the Butterfly Island building seizure. She will also deny any involvement in the Xiomeran civil war, stating that she had attempted to prevent members of WOE from travelling to Xiomera in order to participate in the conflict and will promise to “consider” the extradition of any Lauchenoirian citizen accused of committing terrorist attacks abroad.
