Bosnian Wars of Independence/Civil War: Serbian Military Sollution (April 1992)


Figure 1.--Bosnian children were caught up in the war or inepence, bot as refugees fleeing Serb ethnic cleaning and in the actual fighting. Wa inevitavky became part of their play. The caption here read, "Bosnian children play war games in the western sector of Sarajevo Saturday Feb. 26, 1994 a the ceasefire goes into the 16th day."

The Serbian Bosnians in resoponse to the 1992 referedum vote for independemce launched a military sollution to overturn the will of the voters. Bosnian Serb militias (para-military forces) began attacks on Sarajevo (April 7). The Yugoslav (JNA -- now basically a Serbian Army) began the artillery shelling of the city soon after. The Serbian Bosnian militias connections with the JNA gave them a powerful advantage. Not only did it provide access to heavy weapons, but the JNA was the only well-oganized and armed force in Bosnia. The Bosnian-Serb militais and JNA quickly overran towns in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, areas with subtantial Bosniak populations (Zvornik, Foča, and Višegrad). The Serbs expelled Bosniak population from these areas. They wee the first victims of brutal Serbian World War II-style ethnic cleansing. As a result, the Serbs within only 6-weeks controlled two thirds of the country. Ratko Mladić, a Bosnian-Serb commander, took over control of the Serbian forces, including the JNA units and heavy weapons (May). The fighting most closely followed was the bloody Serb siges of Sarajevo and Srebrenica. These were the most deadly actions of the War, both were areas coveted by the Serbs in building greater Serbia. The U.N. declared 'safe area' of Bihac in northwest Bosnia was another area assulted by the Serbs. The fighting in these aeeas was the most vicious if the fghting in Bosnia. other areas of Yugoslavia. The Bosnia's Serb faction was led by ultra-nationalist and war criminal Radovan Karadžić. He sought independence for Serbs from the majority-Bosniak government. The world watched the Serb asault on Sarajevo in horror. Sarajevo had hosted the 1984 Olympic Winter Games only a few years earlier. The Serbs besieged Sarajevo during 1992-95. The people of Sarajevo were predominately Muslim, although there were also non-Muslims clinging to the dream of a multi-ethnic Bosnia. About 10,000 people including many children were killed in Sarajevo before the West intervened. About 0.2 million people are believed to have died in Bosnia as a result of the fighting and wide range of atrocities.









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Created: 7:47 AM 5/16/2019
Last updated: 7:47 AM 5/16/2019