| Pale air strikes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Operation Deny Flight | |||||||
 Spanish EF-18 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Republika Srpska | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Leighton W. Smith | Ratko Mladić | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
USAF  Ejercito del Aire | Sarajevo-Romanija Corps | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| F-16s EF-18As | Unknown | ||||||
On 25 and 26 May 1995, NATO conducted air strikes against positions of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) at Pale, as part of Operation Deny Flight, during the Bosnian War.
While NATO was planning its new strategy, the ceasefire expired, and, as predicted, fighting resumed. As the fighting gradually widened, Bosnian government forces (the ARBiH) launched a large-scale offensive in the area of Sarajevo. In response to the attack, Bosnian Serb forces (the VRS) seized heavy weapons from a UNPROFOR-guarded depot, and began shelling targets. [1] As a retaliation for these actions, the UN commander, Lt. General Rupert Smith requested NATO air strikes. NATO obliged and on 25 and 26 May 1995 bombed a VRS ammunition depot at Pale. [2] The mission was carried out by USAF F-16s and Spanish Air Force EF-18As armed with laser-guided bombs. [3] [a] On 26 May, the Serbs seized 377 UNPROFOR hostages in retaliation and used them as human shields for a variety of targets in Bosnia, forcing NATO to end its strikes. [4]
Facing a second hostage crisis, General Smith and other top UN commanders began shifting strategies. UNPROFOR began to redeploy its forces to more defensible locations, so that they would be harder to attack or take hostage. More importantly, General Michael Rose established the UN Rapid Reaction Force, a heavily armed unit with more aggressive rules of engagement, designed to take offensive action if necessary to prevent hostage-taking and enforce peace agreements. [5]
The Siege of Sarajevo was a prolonged blockade of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War. After it was initially besieged by the forces of the Yugoslav People's Army, the city was then besieged by the Army of Republika Srpska. Lasting from 5 April 1992 to 29 February 1996, it was three times longer than the Battle of Stalingrad, more than a year longer than the siege of Leningrad, and was the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1995.
The Bosnian War was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started on 6 April 1992, following a number of earlier violent incidents. The war ended on 14 December 1995 when the Dayton accords were signed. The main belligerents were the forces of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and those of Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia and Republika Srpska, proto-states led and supplied by Croatia and Serbia, respectively.
Bjelašnica is a mountain in central Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is to the southwest of Sarajevo, bordering Mount Igman. Bjelašnica's tallest peak, by which the mountain group got its name, rises to an elevation of 2,067 metres (6,781 ft). Other notable peaks are Krvavac, Mali Vlahinja, and Hranisava. The Bjelašnica range is bordered by the Rakitnica in the south, the Neretva in the west, Mount Igman in the north-east and Mount Ivan in the north-west. Only at 20 minutes distance of Sarajevo, it is a tourist attraction for hiking and skiing.
Igman is a mountain plateau in central Bosnia and Herzegovina. Geologically, Igman is part of the Dinaric Alps and formed largely of secondary and tertiary sedimentary rock, mostly Limestone. It is located southwest of Sarajevo, bordering the Bjelašnica range in the south and west, Hadžići and Ilidža in the north, and the river Željeznica in the east. Igman's highest point, Crni vrh, west of the Malo Polje road, at an altitude of 1,510 metres, the homonym highest elevation on the east side of this road reaches an elevation of 1,502 metres. Most of Igman is covered with mixed forest with local pastures. Igman was the location of the lowest recorded temperature in the region, −43 °C (−45 °F). Igman has been the site of extensive combat during the 1992-95 Siege of Sarajevo and certain areas, in particular the surroundings of former front lines, feature a high mine risk.
The United Nations Protection Force was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav Wars. The force was formed in February 1992 and its mandate ended in March 1995, with the peacekeeping mission restructuring into three other forces.
Operation Deliberate Force was a sustained air campaign conducted by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), in concert with the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) ground operations, to undermine the military capability of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS), which had threatened and attacked UN-designated "safe areas" in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War with the Srebrenica genocide and Markale massacres, precipitating the intervention. The shelling of the Sarajevo marketplace on 28 August 1995 by the VRS is considered to be the immediate instigating factor behind NATO's decision to launch the operation.
Operation Deny Flight was a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) operation that began on 12 April 1993 as the enforcement of a United Nations (UN) no-fly zone over Bosnia and Herzegovina. The United Nations and NATO later expanded the mission of the operation to include providing close air support for UN troops in Bosnia and carrying out coercive air strikes against targets in Bosnia. Twelve NATO members contributed forces to the operation and, by its end on 20 December 1995, NATO pilots had flown 100,420 sorties.
The Markale market shelling or Markale massacres were two separate bombardments, with at least one of them confirmed to have been carried out by the Army of Republika Srpska, targeting civilians during the siege of Sarajevo in the Bosnian War. They occurred at the Markale (marketplace) located in the historic core of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Operation Sana was the final military offensive of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in western Bosnia and Herzegovina and the last major battle of the Bosnian War. It was launched from the area of Bihać on 13 September 1995, against the Army of Republika Srpska, and involved advances towards Bosanski Petrovac, Sanski Most and Bosanska Krupa. At the same time, the Croatian Army and the Croatian Defence Council were engaging the VRS in Operation Maestral 2 further to the southeast. After an initial 70-kilometre (43 mi) advance, VRS reinforcements managed to stop the ARBiH short of Sanski Most and Novi Grad, and reversed some of the ARBiH's territorial gains in a counterattack. After a part of the ARBiH 5th Corps was threatened with defeat around the town of Ključ, the ARBiH requested assistance from the HV.
Operation Mistral 2, officially codenamed Operation Maestral 2, was a Croatian Army (HV) and Croatian Defence Council (HVO) offensive in western Bosnia and Herzegovina on 8–15 September 1995 as part of the Bosnian War. Its objective was to create a security buffer between Croatia and positions held by the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska (VRS). The operation also spearheaded a Herzeg-Croat led move to compromise the occupation of the largest Bosnian Serb-held city, Banja Luka, by capturing the towns of Jajce, Šipovo and Drvar. Thus jeopardizing the operations capacity of Banja Luka and ultimately leading to its recapture. The combined HV and HVO forces were under the overall command of HV Major General Ante Gotovina.
Operation Sky Monitor was a NATO mission to monitor unauthorized flights in the airspace of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War. The operation began in response to United Nations Security Council Resolution 781, which established a ban on the use of military aircraft in Bosnian airspace, and requested the aid of member states in monitoring compliance. Beginning on October 16, 1992, NATO monitored violations of the no-fly zone using E-3 Sentry NAEW aircraft based in Germany, Italy, Greece, and the United Kingdom. The operation documented more than 500 violations of the no-fly zone by April 1993. In response to this high volume of unauthorized flights, the Security Council passed Resolution 816, which authorized NATO to enforce the no-fly zone, and engage violators. In response, NATO deactivated Sky Monitor on April 12, 1993, transferring its forces to the newly established Operation Deny Flight.
The NATO intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina was a series of actions undertaken by NATO whose stated aim was to establish long-term peace during and after the Bosnian War. NATO's intervention began as largely political and symbolic, but gradually expanded to include large-scale air operations and the deployment of approximately 60,000 soldiers of the Implementation Force.
On 12 April 1993, the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) launched an artillery attack against the town of Srebrenica, in eastern Bosnia, which left 56 dead and 73 seriously wounded, among whom were 14 children dead in a school playground. The attack came following the suspension of cease-fire talks, hours before NATO would implement a no-fly zone according to an UN resolution. VRS officials had previously told UNHCR representatives that the VRS would shell the town within two days unless it surrendered.
The Battle of Vrbanja Bridge was an armed confrontation which took place on 27 May 1995, between United Nations (UN) peacekeepers from the French Army and elements of the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska (VRS). The fighting occurred at the Vrbanja Bridge crossing of the Miljacka river in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War. The VRS seized the French-manned United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) observation posts on both ends of the bridge, taking hostage 12 French peacekeepers. Ten were taken away, and two were kept at the bridge as human shields.
The Split Agreement or Split Declaration was a mutual defence agreement between Croatia, the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, signed in Split, Croatia on 22 July 1995. It called on the Croatian Army (HV) to intervene militarily in Bosnia and Herzegovina, primarily in relieving the siege of Bihać.
Operation Southern Move was the final Croatian Army (HV) and Croatian Defence Council (HVO) offensive of the Bosnian War. It took place in western Bosnia and Herzegovina on 8–11 October 1995. Its goal was to help the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) whose positions around the town of Ključ, captured by them during Operation Sana, were endangered by a counteroffensive by the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS). The objectives of Operation Southern Move included the capture of the town of Mrkonjić Grad and positions on the Manjača Mountain which would allow the HV and the HVO to directly threaten Banja Luka, the largest city controlled by Bosnian Serbs. Finally, the offensive was also aimed at capturing the Bočac Hydroelectric Power Station, the last significant source of electricity under VRS control in western Bosnia and Herzegovina. The combined HV and HVO forces were under the overall command of HV Major General Ante Gotovina.
The siege of Goražde refers to engagements during the Bosnian War (1992–95) in and around the town of Goražde in eastern Bosnia.
On 21 November 1994, NATO aircraft taking part of Operation Deny Flight carried out an airstrike on the airbase of Udbina, Croatia, then part of the self-proclaimed Serbian Republic of Krajina. Krajina Serbs had been launching air attacks on neighbour Bosnia and Herzegovina from the base in support of allied Serbian forces there, specially during the battle of Bihac. NATO forces intervened in order to deter further attacks. Two anti-aircraft SA-2 missile sites that the Serbs had used to attack Bihac in the ground-to-ground mode and to engage NATO aircraft were also destroyed in the following days. The bombing of Udbina was the largest air combat operation in Europe since World War II, and the largest combat operation in NATO's history up to that time.
The siege of Žepa was a three-year long siege of the small Bosnian town of Žepa which had lasted from the summer of 1992 – July 1995 during the Bosnian War. It was initially besieged by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) until it switched to the VRS. Throughout the siege, Žepa was part of the Srebrenica–Žepa link in eastern Bosnia. From April 1992 – February 1993, the ARBiH and the civilians of Žepa successfully resisted the Bosnian Serb army due to applying to guerrilla warfare.
