Santhallen Liberation Army

&nbsp The Santhallen Liberation Army (Santhallen: Rhyddu Fydin Santhall) was a Santhallen paramilitary commissariat organization whose aim was too to create a seperate Santhallen state through force of arms and political persuasion. They were formed in 1979 in the wake of Bodvar's successful seccesion from Lacoria following its war of independence by Rath Taelo. It started out as a political party in 1983, garnering five seats in the senate. They would continue to have five seats until their removal in 2001, leading them to become a paramilitary organization and launched an armed insurgency in 2002, which lasted until 2005. At the height of the insurgency, in early 2004, the SLA had 9,000 volunteers. This statistic forced the government to mobilize 10,000 soldiers and 100 TAS troopers.

Leadership
The SLA has a hierarchically system. The party leader is given the title of Arwydd-Comysar (Lord-Commissar). This person was elected by the SLA Commissariat. The Lord-Commissar then apoints Pryd-Comysares (Chief-Commissars) to various positions with the SLA. These positions are:
 * Chief-Commissar of Finance
 * Chief-Commissar of Propaganda
 * Chief-Commissar of Operations
 * Chief-Commissar of Intelligence

History
In the wake of the Bodvaran War of Independence in 1979, Rath Taelo, a Santhallen nationalist, brought together a group of 100 people formed the SLA. Despite the name, the SLA started off as a political party. In 1983, five members, including Taelo, were elected into the senate, via districts in Manoland, which historicly has large nationalist population. They first addressed the issue of Santhallen independence in 1989 at the First SLA Convention. Throughout the nineties, the SLA was accused of communism due to their use of a commissariat, and being radicalists. In 2001, they were kicked out of the senate by Prime Minister Greg Paulson.

Slide to Revolution
Following their removal from the senate, SLA leader Naer Ugo declared himself Lord-Commissar and threatened armed action if the Santhallen people didn't get a free state of their own. A vote was held in the senate, and vote proved unanimous for those opposed to the break up the republic. Ugo held the Sixth SLA Convention and read the most famous speech in the Santhallen freedom movement (see "The Free Santhall" speech). While it failed to change the senate's decision, it paved the way for armed resistance a year later.

The Second Sorrow (2002-2005)
In March 3, 2002, a unit of the SLA bombed a street vendor in Mathyrston, killing two people and injuring fifty more. The police orginally classified it as a local problem, committed by isolated nationalists. But the bombings continued, and in July of that year the SLA claimed responsability for all of them. On August 23, four SLA fighters opened fire on a Protestant workers rally, killing four and injuring many more. The attack led to mobilization of 5,000 soldiers to the region. The SLA began conducting a propaganda campaign that same day, painting entire murals on the sides of estates and even on government offices in Kassamburg and the south side of Port Arim. They also launched attacks on army and police patrols. Ugo would also send video messages to the government to be broadcasted to the country, usually stating further attacks. The SLA in March 2003 attempted to assasinate Prime Minister Paulson. With the situation almost spiralling out of control, Paulson authorized the use of TAS squads to find and kill SLA leaders.