Kelebija Incident

The Kelebija incident (also referred to as the Last Battle of the Balkans War, or for Serbians and Zaftrans The Day of the Templars) was a battle that was part of Operation White Shield that was fought on October 3 and 4, 2107, at the Serbian-Hungarian border. It was fought by forces of the United Nations supported by the European Commonwealth against Serbian ultranationalists loyal to the Zaftra Republic. Task Force Templar, which consisted of a vanguard force made up of UNICRATT, EC-Germany army operators, and members of the United Nations Security Forces, had been placed in charge of safeguarding the border and escorting Serbian refugees to safety in the wake of the recent ceasefire. When Serbian forces showed up to prevent the escape of civilians and began firing upon them, a lance of AIPs exited the Safe Zone and entered Serbian territory to engage, ignoring a direct order to stand down. An arduous battle ensued, during which a combined total of nineteen aircraft, twelve vehicles and 160 men were lost; 18 U.N. soldiers died and 73 were wounded.

The battle is notable for almost causing a renewal of open hostilities between Zaftra and the European Commonwealth mere days after the ceasefire effectively ended the war. As a result of this incident, the United Nations was forced to disband its Special Operational Forces, followed swiftly by its entire Security Force, which was quickly reabsorbed by its respective member nations. The AIP operators involved received reprimands, with the Lance Corporal dishonorably discharged.

Description of Incident
Lieutenant Anan McKinley, and her lancemates Hirotomo Hagi, Kate, Seamus, Ingy Sturrlsson, and Dutch had been guarding their quadrant of the border for nearly 10 hours out of their 16-hour shift, when they spotted what they believed to be refugees being attacked by Serbian ultranationalist forces as they neared the border.

McKinley's testimony at her Article 32 hearing was that she believed the Serbian military forces were engaging in ethnic cleansing. The radio logs show that McKinley requested permission from Central Command (CENTCOM) to lead her unit out of the Safe Zone and into Serbian territory in order to protect the civilians. She received the response "stand by for analysis and authorization" and after a few moments, "hold your position". When McKinley insisted, she was again informed of CENTCOM's decision before being explicitly ordered by the Operation's Executive Officer, Major Klaus Rasmutten, not to engage. Less than two minutes later, McKinley invoked Chapter 7, Article 18 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and ordered her lance to "move on my mark... mark". They opened fire on the Serbian forces with 75mm autocannons and short- and long-range missile strikes thirty-five seconds later.

Minutes later, Lt. McKinley issued a request for immediate assistance across the border. The remainder of the Task Force then crossed into Serbian territory to provide fire support and reinforcements. Though McKinley's unit was forced to retreat, Task Force Templar and nearby border security forces from both the U.N. and EC fought with Serbian, then Zaftran forces, for almost two days, believing the war had begun anew.

Disposition
McKinley's unit was harshly reprimanded in the aftermath of the incident. On January 11, 2108 Lt. Anan McKinley was officially charged with 4 counts of negligent manslaughter, 8 counts of aggravated assault, and 1 count of dereliction of duty. Her charges were reduced (on June 30, 2108) to just the dereliction of duty charge. On July 6, 2108 she was found guilty of dereliction of duty in what the U.N. called a "non-judicial hearing" before a senior officer. McKinley was fined nearly 57,000 C-bills in pay and reprimanded. The reprimand, written by Major Klaus Rasmutten said McKinley "flagrantly disregarded a direct order," "exercised a total lack of basic military discipline", and "blatantly ignored the applicable rules of engagement". McKinley was reprimanded for leadership failures and dishonorably discharged.

Here is an excerpt from the letter of reprimand given to McKinley:

''"You acted shamefully on October 3, 2107 in Kelebija, Serbia, exhibiting arrogance and a lack of military discipline. When CENTCOM told you to "hold your position unless fired upon" and the Operations Executive Officer directed you to "stand down", you should have marked the location with your targeting pod. Thereafter, if you believed, as you stated, that innocent lives were being threatened, you should have taken a series of evasive and defensive actions and remained at a safe distance to await further instructions from CENTCOM. Instead, you closed on the targets and blatantly disobeyed the direction to "hold fire". Your failure to follow that order is inexcusable. I do not believe you acted selflessly. Your actions indicate that you used your Chapter 7 declaration as a pretext to strike at targets, which you rashly decided were ethnically cleansing native Serbians, and about which you had exhausted your patience in waiting for clearance from Central Command to engage. You used the inherent right of moral obligation as an excuse to wage your own war."''