in 1992
Creation and composition From July 1991 to January 1992, during the
Croatian War of Independence, the
Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and Serb paramilitaries used Bosnian territory to wage attacks on
Croatia. The Army of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was formed on 15 April 1992 during the early days of the
Bosnian War. Before the ARBiH was officially created, a number of
paramilitary and
civil defense groups were established. The
Patriotic League (PL) and the local
Territorial Defence Force of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (TORBiH) were the official army while paramilitaries such as the
Zelene Beretke (Green Berets) and
Crni Labudovi (Black Swans) units were also active. Other irregular groups included
Bosnian mafia groups, as well as collections of
police and former JNA soldiers. The army was formed in poor circumstances and suffered from a very limited supply of arms. Critical deficiencies included
tanks and other heavy weaponry.
Alija Izetbegović agreed to disarm the existing Territorial Defense forces on the demand of the JNA. This was defied by
Bosnian Croats and Muslim organizations that gained control of many facilities and weapons of the TORBiH. The first commander of the ARBiH was
Sefer Halilović.
1992 In 1992, the ARBiH was losing most of the battles and consequently, 70% of
Bosnia and Herzegovina was under Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), and later
Bosnian Serb army (VRS) control, with Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
besieged. The ARBiH had defended Sarajevo with light weaponry, most of them captured from hostile forces or bought off the black market. The army was surrounded and the transfer of supplies was hard, if not impossible. However, ARBiH forces within the Bosanska Krajina (Bihać pocket) region were steadily defending the territory despite being surrounded by hostile forces.
Muajhideen arrived in central
Bosnia in the latter half of 1992 with the aim of helping their Bosnian Muslim co-religionists in fights against
Serb and
Croat forces. Initially they mainly came from
Arab countries, later from other Muslim-majority countries.
1993 1993 saw no major changes in the front lines against Serbs. Instead, this year marked the start of the
Croat–Bosniak War in Central Bosnia and in
Herzegovina, notably the
Mostar region. In the broader Mostar area the Serbs provided military support for the Muslim side and hired out tanks and heavy artillery to the ARBiH. The VRS artillery shelled HVO positions on the hills overlooking Mostar. Pressured and contained by heavily armed Serb forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, the ethnic Croat militia forces – the
Croatian Defence Council (HVO) – shifted their focus from defending their parts of Bosnia from Serbs to trying to capture remaining territory held by the Bosnian Army. It is widely believed that this was due to the 1991
Milošević–Tuđman Karađorđevo meeting where presidents Slobodan Milošević and Franjo Tuđman discussed partitioning Bosnia between Croatia and
Serbia. In order to accomplish this, the Croatian forces would have to defeat the Bosnian Army, since the territory that they wanted was under the Bosnian government control. The HVO with great engagement from the military of the Republic of Croatia and material support from Serbs, attacked Bosniak civilian population in Herzegovina and in central Bosnia, starting ethnic cleansing of Bosniak-populated territories, such as the
Lašva Valley ethnic cleansing. In early September ARBiH launched an operation known as ''
Operation Neretva '93'' against the HVO. The ARBiH made limited gains in the area of northern
Herzegovina and around
Mostar, but did not achieve a breakthrough to the southern
Neretva, where the HVO retained control. Vastly under-equipped Bosnian forces, fighting on two fronts, were able to repel Croats and gain territory against them on every front. At this time, due to its geographic position, Bosnia was surrounded by Croat and Serb forces from all sides. There was no way to import weapons or food. What saved Bosnia at this time was its vast industrial complex (steel and other heavy industry), which was able to switch to military production. After a short but bloody war, and once Croats realized that their partnership with Serbs would not bring them any territorial gains, they agreed to the U.S. leadership's "Washington Treaty" peace agreement. From that point on, Croat and Bosnian government forces fought as allies against Serbs. The
Intra-Bosnian Muslim War was a
civil war fought between the ARBiH loyal to central government of Alija Izetbegović in
Sarajevo and the
Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia loyal to
Fikret Abdić in
Velika Kladuša from 1993 in the region of the western Bosnia. On 13 August 1993, the Bosnian government officially organized foreign volunteers into the detachment known as
El Mudžahid in order to impose control and order. The foreign mujahideen sometimes recruited local young men into the foreign mujahideen units. The mujahideen also participated in battles against the HVO alongside ARBiH units.
1994 The
Washington Agreement was signed in March 1994, reintegrating Bosniak and Croat alliance. The objective was to form a strong force that could fight the much stronger and better equipped VRS. This was the time of frequent peace negotiations.
Split Agreement was 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.
1995 Despite the loss of several
enclaves,
notably Srebrenica, 1995 was marked by HVO and ARBiH offensives and later by
NATO intervention. Following the
Split Agreement, the
Croatian Army, with cooperation from the ARBiH and the HVO, launched a series of operations: ''
Flash,
Summer '95,
Storm and
Mistral 2. In conjunction, Bosnian forces launched operations like Sana''. Bosnian and Croat armies were on the offensive in this phase. From August to December 1995, Serb forces were defeated and driven out of the majority of Croatia and western Bosnia, and the ethnic
Serb population fled from these parts. Following the
second Markale massacre, a NATO intervention was launched, which destroyed much of the VRS' infrastructure in just a few days through
Operation Deliberate Force. The war ended with the signing of the
Dayton Accord. ==Army organization and commanding officers==