Vanuku

[Kubrick]

Dozens killed by PMC forces in Sholemberg

A civilian being arrested for "rebel activities" by mercenaries in the formerly free city of Sholemberg.

10 July 5684 (backdated), Sholemberg, occupied Beiteynu
A massacre today in the Yeudi city of Sholemberg, once the industrial trade capital of the Hischar Nisrad it now many ruins, thick black smoke and lots of blood. Last year the city was declared free by local militias, with Commander Ben-Ronen stating the liberation of the city would mark the first step into establishing the "Free Yeudi State", a proposed sovereign nation uniting all lands of former Beiteynu. The taking of the city was met with wild allegations from the Triad, alleging that the Kingdom of Wrnuke was behind the operation. Wiel has denied this at every step, with Prefect Anzlék-Zahr dismissing the allegations as a "desperate measure of a dying regime to cling to power and relevance". Nonetheless, after an initial missile strike at civilian targets under the guise of attacking militia camps, the President of the Triad announced that 'gold level' mercenaries would bring peace and order back to Sholemberg. This attack was pre-empted by a second missile strike that set Sholemberg's oil depots aflame, with some expecting foul play. When the mercenaries entered the city however, there were no rebels or militias to be found, a local mercenary jokingly remarked to a reporter that they must have been "tipped off".

Instead of a large rebel force the mercenaries found a crowd of civilians covered in black oil, smoke, dust, and sweat trying to put out the fires in the petroleum refinement complex. Further large crowds were found putting out fires near City Hall and the Old District, as well as the Sacred Spirit Hospital which had been hit by a stray missile. The first group however was identified as a force of rebels, as the black smoke and oil made their civilian clothing look like militia uniforms. The hoses were, according to PR representatives of the private military company, "suspiciously gun-shaped". The group of mercenaries surrounded the crowd of civilians, which also included firefighters and EMT's, and opened fire. Eye witnesses reported a merciless slaughter, where downed individuals were 'double-tapped' by eager blood-thirsty mercenaries to assure their passing. Once mercenary officers identified the crowd as civilian, about an hour after the initial shooting, reporters were arrested and escorted away. Some managed to escape and hid, from these hidden positions they observed how the group of mercenaries frantically gathered the fallen and shoved them close to a nearby oil spill fire, before covering them in canisters of gasoline. After this a large wave of arrests was made throughout the city by the mercenary force, with increasingly paranoid PMC commanders being convinced the rebels were hiding amongst the masses.

Eye witnesses have reported at least eighty people that were executed in cold blood by Triad mercenaries, with some insisting it was dozens more. The Triad embassy denied to give a statement on the matter.

Krsyiji Sagmot'l (United Media) is the national news agency of Wrnuke, it is bound by law to give neutral news to the nation.