Vedoktarian security forces standing guard outside the nation's capitol.
ILGRAVIA, VEDOKTARIA -- The 18-month internal conflict in the Vedoktarian peninsula has ended, official sources say, with an unconditional ceasefire declared by separatist elements in the nation's eastern region. A statement released by the nation's Ministry of Defence this morning has revealed that rebel groups have agreed to lay down their arms and submit to government authority after the bloody episode which many outside observers have labeled a civil war.
The Vedoktarian government has consistently branded the conflict as a "stabilization effort" in which security forces have been deployed to pacify the contested region. The conflict has been destructive and bloody; nearly 5,000 soldiers and civilians have lost their lives, and many thousands more have been wounded or displaced by the fighting. Both sides have been accused by observers of human rights violations and war crimes; international press coverage has been severely restricted and censored by elements of the Vedoktarian government for "security purposes."
"It is hoped that this is the first step in a long path to peace," Vedoktarian General Secretary Ilyich Serkariakov said today in a press conference, "The dear price of the stabilization effort has been paid by our security forces and our civilians. We must begin the process of reconstruction and the normalization of political relations in the troubled areas."
The conflict's effects have destabilized the nation's economy; with many civilians without basic needs, such as running water, access to food, lack of medical care and safe shelter. General Secretary Serkariakov has vowed to use troops to provide humanitarian efforts to the best of their abilities but noted that the process is "ongoing" and the needs of the people throughout the country are "extensive."