February 1992 – March 1993 Cedric Thornberry was director of UNPROFOR Civil Affairs at the beginning of the mission in February 1992. By the end of its first mandate in March 1993, UNPROFOR had some success in restoring peace in Croatia, notably obtaining the removal of the
Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) in May 1992. However, civil unrest was such that terror, discrimination and
ethnic cleansing were still present. Local Serb forces managed to complete their cleansing of the UNPA areas, started in 1991, that left only 279 Croats there out of a pre-war population of 102,000. The situation was problematic, mostly due to non-cooperation by local Serb authorities, and because of later major Croat military offensives. Additionally, the situation for which UNPROFOR had been designed and anticipated for had significantly changed. The Croat side now refused to negotiate its sovereignty on the UNPAs and Pink Zones, which the Serb part would not accept. Establishment of the "
Republic of Serbian Krajina" further complicated the situation. The Opening of the Sarajevo Airport was conducted by the Canadian Operational Force, which moved within the Theater of Operations from Croatia (Surac) to the combat zone of
Sarajevo. The Canadian Force included the French-speaking
Royal 22e Régiment, with the attachment of N Company of the English-speaking
3rd Battalion,
The Royal Canadian Regiment. The Canadian Contingent was deployed by train from
Canadian Forces Base Baden-Soellingen and
CFB Lahr, Germany. In spite of hostile actions,
Sarajevo international airport had successfully remained open. In the period from 3 July 1992 to 31 January 1993, the humanitarian airlift organised by
UNHCR under UNPROFOR protection brought in 2,476 aircraft carrying 27,460 tons of food, medicines and other relief goods. Distribution of humanitarian aid was disrupted due to non-cooperation and even hostile actions (mines, small arms fire, RPG) of the parties in the field, especially from the Bosnian Serb forces. Nonetheless, from November 1992 to January 1993, a total of some 34,600 tons of relief supplies had been delivered to an estimated 800,000 beneficiaries in 110 locations throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.
March 1993 – February 1994 Croat incursions On 6 July 1993, new tensions arose following the Croatian government's decision to re-open the strategic
Maslenica bridge on 18 July – Croatia was cut in half while the bridge was in Serb hands. The UNPROFOR forces who were mandated to monitor the Croat forces' withdrawal from the area had been unable to deploy, due to the refusal of access by Croat authorities. The Serbs shelled the bridge, partially destroying it on 2 August. On 12 August, negotiations for a cease-fire began in Geneva, but were unsuccessful. Eventually, Croat forces retreated to their positions previously occupied before the incursion. (centre), whose
F-16 Fighting Falcon was shot down over Bosnia on 2 June 1995, while he was flying in support of
Operation Deny Flight.
Operation "Deny Flight" In mid-March, unidentified airplanes dropped bombs onto villages in the vicinity of Srebrenica, violating the "No-Flight zones" for the first time. The Bosnian Serbs were accused of the bombing but denied responsibility. On 31 March, a resolution was voted authorising the nations contributing to UNPROFOR to take "all necessary measures" to prevent military flights from the belligerents in the no-flight zones ("
Operation Deny Flight"). French, Dutch, and American airplanes were deployed to enforce the resolution. In total, until 1 December 1994, 3317 violations were observed. On 28 February 1994, four military aircraft were shot down by NATO fighter jets over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Safe areas From March 1993, Serb paramilitary units killed a great number of civilians, destroyed habitations, prevented the UNHCR from delivering humanitarian aid, and forced thousands of Bosnian refugees to flee to the town of Srebrenica. As many as 30 to 40 persons per day were dying from military action, starvation, exposure to cold or lack of medical treatment.
Resolution 819 attempted to address this issue by declaring Srebrenica a "Safe Area".
Resolution 836 authorized UNPROFOR "acting in self-defense, to take the necessary measures, including the use of force, in reply to bombardments against the safe areas by any of the parties or to armed incursion into them or in the event of any deliberate obstruction in or around those areas to the freedom of movement of UNPROFOR, or of protected humanitarian convoys". To implement the deterrence, around 7,600 reinforcements were sent and air support was organised in coordination with NATO.
War in Bosnia In May 1993, intense fighting broke out in Central Bosnia between Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats. Croat paramilitary forces committed atrocities against Serbs and Bosnians, such as the massacre in the village of
Ahmići, on 16 April 1993.
Tihomir Blaškić, an officer of the Croat HVO army formation, was tried and convicted at the
ICTY over his responsibility for this massacre. Blaškić served almost nine years in prison before the appeals panel acquitted him of most of the charges in July 2004. The defence proved he did not command all the HVO units in the area or any paramilitary units. On 24 September, the Security Council was informed by the Croatian Government that if the mandate of UNPROFOR was not amended to promote energetic implementation of the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, Croatia would be forced to request UNPROFOR to leave the country no later than 30 November 1993. Subsequent redefinition of the mandate occurred. light tracked "softskin" (unarmoured) vehicles in Sarajevo. At the end of the year, the warring parties attempted to come to a cease-fire. The truce was implemented between Croat and Serb forces, but fighting went on in Bosnia between Bosniaks and Croats, and the humanitarian situation continued to deteriorate. Notably, Sarajevo continued to be bombarded by Bosnian Serb forces. It was also reported that regular Croat army units were supporting Bosnian Croat forces with heavy equipment and men, removing their insignias. This led to further protests from the UN. Use of force began to be discussed at a NATO summit held in Brussels on 10 and 11 January 1994. The Bosnian Serbs, following talks with high-ranking officials of the Russian Federation in Moscow, agreed to open the
Tuzla airport for humanitarian purposes. At the same time, the relieving of UN troops in Srebrenica was allowed and the Canadian contingent was replaced by a Dutch contingent. The situation in Sarajevo, however, remained extremely tense, with Bosnian Serb sniper fire deliberately aimed at civilians, and artillery and heavy mortar fire aimed at population areas. This strongly shaped Western public opinion, as a number of journalists were operating in Sarajevo, and murdered civilians were seen on the evening news on a regular basis. On 4 February 1994, a mortar shell struck a suburb of Sarajevo, killing 10 people and wounding 18. The next day, 5 February 1994,
a mortar exploded in Sarajevo's Markale market, leaving 68 dead and 200 injured in what was so far the bloodiest incident in Sarajevo in 22 months of fighting. Exasperation at these provocations grew to the point where an ultimatum was sent, requiring the removal or surrender to UNPROFOR of all heavy guns 20 km from Sarajevo (Bosnian and Bosnian Serb, with an exception for
Pale) within ten days. The ultimatum was satisfied on 17 February, with the heavy weapons that were not removed being regrouped in seven UNPROFOR-controlled spots. On 23 February 1994, the cease-fire was brokered between Croat and Bosnian forces – the
Washington Agreement – which ended their one-year-long war and united the sides as the
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. UNPROFOR's role in this was to monitor the cease-fire, help rebuild local infrastructure, and staff checkpoints within the federation area. deliberate attacks against UNPROFOR personnel or aircraft became frequent. In October, the Bosnian Muslim forces, trapped in the Bihać pocket, attacked the Bosnian Serb forces in an attempt to end the siege of the city. The attack and the ensuing counter-attack by the Bosnian Serbs terrorized the local population, causing another massive exodus of refugees. Bosnian Serb airplanes attacked the Bihać area with cluster bombs and napalm, deliberately violating the "Safe Area" status of Bihać and the "No-flight" zones. In reaction to this threat, on 21 November, NATO warplanes destroyed the Udbina airstrip, located in the UNPA Sector South in Croatia. The following days, NATO airplanes struck Bosnian Serb anti-air missiles sites that had previously fired upon British jets. NATO also carried out airstrikes against artillery sites which shelled Bihać. Instead of lowering their profile, the Bosnian Serbs retaliated by taking UN personnel hostage and restraining humanitarian aid transit. On the diplomatic scene, all efforts to reach and implement a cease-fire fell short due to Bosnian Serb obstruction—Dr.
Karadžić declined the invitation of the UN Secretary-General.
United Nations hostages and the Vrbanja bridge On 12 March 1995, UNPROFOR made its first request for
NATO air support, but close air support was not deployed, owing to a number of delays associated with the approval process. On 10 and 11 April 1995, UNPROFOR called in air strikes to protect the
Goražde safe area, resulting in the bombing of a Bosnian Serb military command outpost near
Goražde by two U.S.
General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft. This was the first time in NATO's history it had attacked ground targets with aircraft. Subsequently, Bosnian Serbs entered the Gorazde safe area.
Serbian Army soldiers took 150
UN personnel hostage on 14 April. A British
Sea Harrier was sent to scout the situation and potentially attack Serbian positions, but the Serbs were prepared. On 16 April 1995, a British Sea Harrier was shot down over Goražde by Bosnian Serb forces. On 26 May 1995, following
NATO air raids on Pale as the Bosnian Serbs defied another UN ultimatum on heavy weapons, around 400
Blue Helmets were taken hostage in different parts of Bosnia, brought to strategic points as
human shields, and shown in chains on Serbian TV. On 27 May 1995, General
Mladić along with General
Nuhić launched an assault against the UN observation point of the
Vrbanja bridge. At 5 in the morning, the French captain commanding the position lost contact with the 12 men and went to investigate. A Serb dressed with a blue helmet, French body armour and uniform attempted to take him hostage, but was deterred by the UN escort, and the officer managed to escape. In the following hours, after intense shelling by
ERC 90 Sagaie armoured vehicles, the French stormed the post, killing four Serbs and capturing four others. Two French soldiers were killed and 17 were wounded. At 12 o'clock, the Bosnian Serb radio broadcast that General Mladić had ordered to On the 30 May, Ratko Mladić phoned
Rupert Smith and agreed to not place Blue Helmets hostages in chains, but to merely "bring" them to strategic sites. He also demanded apologies for the death of the four Serbian soldiers killed by the French at Vrbanja bridge, threatening to "be unable to guarantee the safety" of the UN forces in
Goražde.
Fall of Srebrenica On 12 July 1995 UNPROFOR failed to deter the Serb attack on Srebrenica because they were not able to sufficiently reinforce the Dutch battalion in place, and the city was subsequently overrun. When the dual key practices effectively prevented any serious air support from materialising, the Dutch began evacuating women and children. The Serbs held the Muslim men and massacred thousands of them. The safe area of Zepa also fell to Serb forces on 25 July. The events in
Srebrenica led to the Peacekeeping Best Practices Unit (PBPU) report. NATO initiated "
Operation Deliberate Force" on 30 August 1995 in response to further provocations by Serb forces. At this point, UNPROFOR had become "militarily engaged" with NATO against the Bosnian Serb Army. NATO and UNPROFOR were increasingly difficult to separate by autumn 1995, both in terms of policy and actions taken on the ground.
Operation Storm and Dayton Agreement The above actions and operations by Croat Forces in Krajina during
Operation Storm in August 1995 altered the political geography of BiH. Collectively, these ultimately led to the
Dayton Agreement and the deployment of the NATO-led IFOR on 20 December 1995 to ensure the adherence of the Former Warring Factions (FWF) to the Military Annexes of The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Some of the UNPROFOR troops were folded into the new IFOR forces, but for all intents and purposes, UNPROFOR no longer operated in Bosnia and Herzegovina. ==Perception in participating countries==