Operation Lukavac '93
| Lukavac '93 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Bosnian War | |||||||
 A map of the Operations | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Army of Republika Srpska |
 Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Ratko Mladić |
 Rasim Delić | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 10,000–15,000 men[1][5] | 10,000–13,000 men[2] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
Unknown |
470 killed[5][2] 200 wounded[5] | ||||||
The Operation "Lukavac '93" (in Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian: Operacija "Lukavac '93"; in Serbian Cyrillic: Операција "Лукавац '93") was carried out by the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS), commanded by the Lieutenant Ratko Mladić, against the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) during the Bosnian War. Their goal was to surround the cities of Sarajevo and Goražde, which partially failed, but they managed to re-capture many lost lands around the same places.
Background
[edit]The Serbian goal, throughout 1992–1993, was to besiege and capture the cities of Žepa, Srebrenica and Goražde. A few days before Lukavac '93, Bosnian Muslim militias successfully occupied Trnovo and surrounding mountain ranges which cut communications between Serbian Herzegovina and the rest of Republika Srpska.[6] After Operation Cerska '93, the VRS recaptured most of its lost lands east of Sarajevo, and besieged Žepa and Srebrenica.[7]
Operation
[edit]Initially, the ARBiH men count numbered 10,000.[2] However, immediately after the start and successful implementation of the offensive actions of the VRS, the General Staff of the ARBiH sent elements of the 7th Muslim and 17th Krajina Brigades as reinforcements, jointly with a group of troops from the entire First Corps of the ARBiH with the strength of one brigade, making the number grow up to 13,000.[2]
On July 10, Serb forces entered Trnovo, and successfully occupied it on July 11. The Serbs later kept advancing west and reached Igman and Bjelašnica at the beginning of August. The operation was called off with the capture of the Rogoj and Grebak passes, strengthening even more communications between the two parts of Serbian-controlled Republika Srpska.[8]
Aftermath
[edit]After this operation, Sarajevo was now fully exposed to eventual Serbian attacks. Because of this, NATO pressured the VRS to withdraw from Igman and Bjelašnica. During these negotiations, between these mountains a Demilitarized zone was called off but was never put in place.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b CIA 2002, p. 391
- ^ a b c d e f CIA 2002, p. 392
- ^ a b "Odbrana Igmana 1993 (1)" [Defense of Igman 1993 (1)]. Kiraethana (in Bosnian). 11 August 2010.
- ^ Tom Barlow Brown (28 January 2022). "Stories from Gorazde: How One Bosnian Town Survived a Siege". Balkan Insight (in Croatian).
- ^ a b c Irvin P. (27 July 2016). "Zaboravljena bitka na Proskoku: Kako se u ljeto 1993. branilo Sarajevo" [The forgotten battle at Proskok: How Sarajevo was defended in the summer of 1993]. Klix (in Croatian).
- ^ CIA 2002, p. [page needed]
- ^ CIA 2002, pp. 387–389
- ^ CIA 2002, pp. 392–392
- ^ CIA 2002, p. 393
- Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Russian and European Analysis (2002). Balkan battlegrounds: a military history of the Yugoslav conflict, 1990–1995, Volume 2. Washington, D.C.: Central Intelligence Agency. ISBN 978-0-16-066472-4.