The 39th Central Asian Conflict

The 39th Asian Conflict is a war that is talked a lot about in the "Pluto" manga. The war started because of a man named Darius XIV, and 7 robots were involved in the war, these robots were Montblanc, North MK II, Gesicht, Brando, Hercules, Photar, and Atom.

Fear of Robotic Weapons of Mass Destruction
The United States of Thracia send the BORA Fact Finding mission, which includes Dr. Ochanomizu and Dr. Hoffman, as a bid to see if these rumors are true. The scientists are ultimately unable to verify the the existence of any concerning robotic weaponry, though Dr. Ochanomizu does note that in the basement of a temple, the bodies of several robot corpses were identified.

Following submission of this report, Thracia decides that Persia remains a significant threat regardless and initiates an armed assault. Persia launches their robotic weaponry in defense, but with the combined might of six out of the seven robotic superpowers, Persia is ultimately defeated. It is shown on several occasions that many of the combats harbour internal doubts regarding the purpose of this conflict, with Montblanc, Brando, Hercules, an unnamed partnering solider of Hercules', and Gesicht questioning the purpose of this conflict.

During this conflict, Dr. Abullah loses his family, including his wife and robotic son.

The Truth Behind the Conflict
Note: the following contains spoilers for the Pluto manga and anime!

It is ultimately revealed that Dr. Teddy Roosevelt, an AI supercomputer and the true source of power and judicial decision-making, was the mastermind behind the entire war. Seeking to be the one sole superpower in the world, Teddy had created the BORA Fact Finding Mission solely to create the pretense of an investigation and to provoke armed conflict. He would then manipulate Dr. Abullah with the purpose of creating a robot that would be powerful enough to take on the other robotic super-powers and to systematically destroy them so that Thracia - and by extension, Teddy - would become the seat of power in a new geopolitical arena.