The Battle of Žepče (Croatian: ''Bitka kod Žepča'') took place between the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) and the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) in

Žepče Žepče ( sr-cyrl, Жепче) is a town and municipality located in Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, between Doboj and Zenica. ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

from 24th to 30th June 1993.

Prelude

War broke out between Herzeg-Bosnia, supported by

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, supported by the Bosnian Mujahideen and the Croatian Defence Forces. It lasted from 18 October 1992 to 23 February 1994, and is considered often as a "war within a war" as it was a part of the much larger

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...

. Fighting soon spread to Central Bosnia and soon

Herzegovina Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical Regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia (reg ...

, where most of the fighting would take place in those regions.

Battle

The 319th Mountain Brigade which was located in the city found itself surrounded while other brigade of ARBiH took over high ground around city. Žepče was defended by HVO 111th xp Žepče brigade and Andrija Tadić battalion. After six days of fighting for Žepče, on 30 June Galib Dervišević agrees to surrender the 305th and 319th Brigade after which the brigades abolished. By

Croat The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

sources, captured

Bosniak The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...

soldiers numbered to around 5000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zepce, Battle of Battles of the Bosnian War Military operations of the Bosnian War 1993 in Bosnia and Herzegovina June 1993 in Europe Conflicts in 1993 Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatian Defence Council