1990 bombing of South Kesh

The 1990 bombing of South Kesh, codenamed Operation Ilya, was Samotkhe's air campaign against South Kesh from the 1st of August to the 9th of November 1990. The bombing was aimed at destroying South Kesh's industry and administration in an effort to topple the government and call for an end to the human rights abuses in the nation. The operation is known in Samotkhe as the "South Kesh Humanitarian Intervention" whereas the South Keshian government called it "Perang Penyelamatan Bumi Pertiwi" (National Salvation War).

Samotkhe's intervention is partially motivated by the nationalization of many key industries that have been beneficial to Samotkhe's economy. It is also in a large part due to the instability of the region caused by the genocide in 1986 and the military coup culminating to what's known as the Bay of Ramay incident. The incident occured on July 9th 1989, where two Samot destroyers were attacked by land-based anti-ship missiles, with one suffering heavy damage. South Kesh claimed that the Samot Navy had violated their territorial waters, where as Samotkhe claims that the area had been an International Strait. The Samot government's choice to escalate this incident has been subject to heavy international criticism.

Previous Democratic Ramay officials managed to avert international attention by continuing its steel exports to the outside world and accepting bribes from foreign officials. Although steel exports have been diminishing since the late 1970s, Democratic Ramay made steel the only main industry worth reviving while rejecting all other industries.

The bombing demonstrated Samotkhe's power projection capabilities to the international stage. However, the campaign was not received well domestically, with heavy criticism from the population. Critics of the bombing cites its unnecessity, its ineffectiveness in improving the human rights situation in South Kesh, and the excessive interventionism that the Samot Government was undertaking which did nothing for internal improvement. The legality of the operation is also subject to great scrutiny.

As a result of the bombing, South Kesh's government and economic system, already greatly damaged by the actions of Democratic Ramay, took a massive decline. The capital city Sragen was destroyed to such an extent that a journalist later commented: "If humanity were to ever visit Icarus, they will have to train the astronauts here.", The bombing displaced at least a quarter of a million people in the metropolitan area alone. In other regions, espeically in the southern coasts, Samot bombers managed to destroy vital ports and industries, effectively blocking South Kesh from outside trade. After three months of bombings, President Susantomo, with the full backing of parliament, signed a peace deal with Samotkhe in the city of Banyuasin, which became the interim capial of South Kesh between 1990 and 2000. In 1995, construction of a new capital began to take place until its completion in 2000.