On 25 and 26 May 1995,
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
conducted
air strikes
An airstrike, air strike or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighters, heavy bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters and drones. The offic ...
against positions of the
Army of Republika Srpska
The Army of Republika Srpska ( sr, Војска Републике Српске/Vojska Republike Srpske; ВРС/VRS), commonly referred to in English as the Bosnian Serb Army, was the military of Republika Srpska (RS), the self-proclaimed Serb ...
(VRS) at
Pale, as part of
Operation Deny Flight
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 mis ...
, during the
Bosnian War.
__NOTOC__
Events
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
The Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( bs, Armija Republike Bosne i Hercegovine or ARBiH), often referred to as Bosnian Army, was the military force of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was established by the government of ...
) 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
The United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR; also known by its French acronym FORPRONU: ''Force de Protection des Nations Unies'') was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav War ...
-guarded depot, and began shelling targets. As a retaliation for these actions, the UN commander, Lt. General
Rupert Smith
General Sir Rupert Anthony Smith, (born 13 December 1943) is a retired British Army officer and author of '' The Utility of Force''. He was a senior commander during the Gulf War, for which he was recognised with the award of the Distinguished ...
requested NATO air strikes. NATO obliged and on 25 and 26 May 1995 bombed a VRS ammunition depot at
Pale. The mission was carried out by USAF
F-16s and
Spanish Air Force EF-18As armed with
laser-guided bombs
A laser-guided bomb (LGB) is a guided bomb that uses semi-active laser guidance to strike a designated target with greater accuracy than an unguided bomb. First developed by the United States during the Vietnam War, laser-guided bombs quickly p ...
. 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.
Aftermath
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.
See also
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Airstrike on Udbina Air Base
Notes
References
Sources
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{{Wars and battles involving Serbs
Conflicts in 1995
NATO intervention in the former Yugoslavia
Aerial bombing operations and battles
Military operations of the Bosnian War
Army of Republika Srpska
Istočno Sarajevo
May 1995 events in Europe
1995 in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Airstrikes conducted by Spain