In a surprise series of operations throughout Huenya, the Federation Defense Force struck at Golden Blade and affiliated terrorist organizations in the early hours of January 26th. The Huenyan Defense Department confirmed that elements of I Corps of the Federation Army supported the Federal Police, the Special Prosecutorial and Investigative Service and the Federal Intelligence Service in the raids, along with local and regional police and civil defense forces. The 2nd Fighter Wing and 4th Special Operations Wing of the Federation Air Force provided air support as well as a series of tactical air strikes aimed at disrupting terrorist commiunications and mobilizing abilities. Targeted air strikes in far eastern Huenya, near the Gulf of Epeloc, were also utilized to disrupt and destroy supply lines that Huenyan authorities allege are being used by the Xiomeran Empire to supply ethnic Xiomeran supremacist groups such as Golden Blade.
“The Huenyan Federation does not negotiate with terrorists,” the country’s new Defense Secretary, Acxopotl, told the media after the operations. “We are not going to allow throwbacks to the unlamented and past Imperial era in Huenya to cause chaos in Huenya anymore. We are also no longer going to allow the Xiomeran Empire and its tyrannical leaders to attempt to destroy our democracy through the fomentation of separatist and ethnic violence in our nation.” The Huenyan government has alleged for months now that a foreign power was behind the sudden surge in terrorism in the country. However, this is the first time that a high-ranking Huenyan official has publicly accused Xiomera, the former colonial ruler of Huenya, of being that nation.
Xiomeran officials responded to the Defense Secretary’s remarks with a terse statement from the Palace of Flowers, stating that the Empire took no responsibility for events in Huenya. “The Huenyan government, as always, seeks to blame its incompetence and its inability to convince its putative citizens to support its agenda on others,” the statement said in part. The statement also warned that any attacks on Xiomeran assets by Huenya, even under the guise of an anti-terrorist mission, “will be met with the full defensive capability of the Xiomeran Empire.”
While the anti-terrorist raids today did meet many of their stated objectives, the Huenyan Defense Department did confirm that they were not able to locate or rescue the two poll workers currently being held hostage by the Golden Blade. The terrorist group has not made any announcements about their fate after the government raids, but experts on the group told DTNS that it is possible the terrorists may retaliate against the hostages in some fashion.
Doberman incident at protest sparks responses
In a related story, officials in both Huenya and Xiomera responded today to statements by a far-right Lauchenoirian politician which led to a brief clash between his supporters and anti-war demonstrators in the Lauchenoirian capital Buttercity.
Paul Doberman, leader of Lauchenoiria First, publicly accused the Huenyan government of being run by Auroras, and blaming “Huenyan aggression” for the current crises in Caxcana. When asked for a response by DTNS, Vice-Speaker Tiacihitli was direct. “Paul Doberman is the leader of a minor group of extremists. Most Lauchenoirians don’t even take him and his absurdly insane remarks seriously; there is absolutely no reason for Huenyans or anyone else in the international community to do so.” The Vice-Speaker went on to add that Huenyan participation in the Aurian blockade “is a way Huenya is working with others in the international community in a constructive fashion”.
When asked for his own opinion on the protest incident and Doberman’s remarks, the Huenyan monarch, Great Speaker Texōccoatl, was even more blunt. “Paul Doberman is either an agent of the Xiomeran Empire, or a useful dupe for the Empire. In any event, his remarks concerning Huenya are outrageous lies, and his suggestion that the Empire acts for the good of anyone other than the XCP even more wrong and outrageous,” he said. The Great Speaker added that Lauchenoirians “should fear his attempts to encourage Lauchenoiria to abandon Huenya and other democratic states in favor of Calhualyana and her ambitions.”
Prime Minister Toquihu of Xiomera issued a statement of his own, stating that the protest clash “is just one example of what happens when democracy and political participation are not properly regulated, and people are allowed to run riot with whatever passions or ideologies happen to seize them at the moment. Thankfully, under the XCP, that could never happen in Xiomera.” The Prime Minister also added that Doberman “is not wrong about his belief that Huenya is hardly the innocent and freedom-loving state it claims to be.”
