Siege of Žepa
1992 – 1995 siege during the Bosnian War / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The siege of Žepa (Serbo-Croatian: Опсада Жепe, Opsada Žepe) 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.[5][1] It was initially besieged by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) until it switched to the VRS.[8] 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.[9][10]
Siege of Žepa | |||||||||
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Part of the Bosnian War | |||||||||
A map of Stupčanica 95 | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Republika Srpska |
Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina UN (1995) NATO (1995) | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Ratko Mladić Zdravko Tolimir Radislav Krstić Milorad Pelemiš |
Mustafa Palić Hamdija Torlak [2][3] Mehmed Hajrić [4][5] Avdo Palić [6][5] Amir Imamović [6][5][7] | ||||||||
Units involved | |||||||||
Yugoslav People's Army (1992) | |||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
Unknown |
1500 soldiers 79 Ukrainian peacekeepers Air Support | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
Unknown | Unknown | ||||||||
800 recorded deaths in the Žepa municipality[5] |
However, in March 1993, VRS general Ratko Mladić ordered the Bosnian Serb forces besieging the town to launch a large-scale counterattack.[10] The attack resulted in the Bosnian Serbs capturing 80 percent of the territory of the Srebrenica enclave once held by the 28th Division of the ARBiH.[11] Due to this attack, Žepa was now separated from Srebrenica and was now a complete enclave of its own.
On 16 April 1993, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 819 the Srebrenica enclave was declared a "UN safe haven". On 6 May 1993, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 824 made Žepa and other cities a "UN safe haven"[10] under the protection of only 79 Ukrainian peacekeepers.[12]
On the 25 July 1995, the Bosnian Serbs, under command of general Ratko Mladić and Zdravko Tolimir, launched an offensive against the 285th Light Mountain Brigade, commanded by Avdo Palić, 14 days after the fall of Srebrenica. The offensive was called "Operation Stupčanica 95" (Serbo-Croatian: Операција Ступчаницa 95, Operacija Stupčanica 95). It resulted 800 refugees and the deaths of 116[13] in the takeover.
Unlike in Srebrenica, the commander of the peacekeeping unit, Ukrainian officer Mykola Verkhohlyad in negotiations with general Mladić secured evacuation of civilians from Žepa in UN convoy. Verkhohlyad did not allow them to be taken over by Mladić forces, which helped rescue over 10,000 Bosniak civilians.[14][15]
NATO bombing operations continued targeting Bosnian Serb positions due to constant attacks on Sarajevo and the fall of the "UN safe havens" of Srebrenica and Žepa. The bombing operations wouldn't end until 20 September 1995 and would help the start the foundation of the Dayton Agreement.