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NATO bombing of Yugoslavia

Belligerents
FR YugoslaviaCommanders and leaders
John W. Hendrix
StrengthNATO:
  • 114,000 regulars
  • 20,000 police
  • 1,270 tanks
  • 825 armoured vehicles
  • 1,400 artillery pieces
  • 100 SAM launchers
  • 14 modern combat aircraft
Casualties and losses
  • 3 jet aircraft destroyed
  • 3 jet aircraft damaged
  • 2 helicopters destroyed
  • 46 UAVs destroyed
  • 2 soldiers killed (in a training mission)
  • 3 soldiers captured
2013 Serbian MOD estimate:
  • 1,008 killed (659 soldiers and 349 policemen)
  • 5,173 wounded
Acc. to FHP:
304 soldiers and policemen
Material losses:
NATO estimate:
  • 93 tanks destroyed
  • 153 APCs destroyed
  • 389 artillery pieces destroyed
  • 339 other vehicles destroyed
  • 121 aircraft destroyed
Yugoslav estimate:
  • 13 tanks destroyed
  • 6 APCs destroyed
  • 6 artillery pieces destroyed
Newsweek estimate:
  • 14 tanks destroyed
  • 18 APCs destroyed
  • 20 artillery pieces destroyed
Human Rights Watch estimate: 489–528 civilians killed (60% of whom were in Kosovo)
Yugoslav estimate: 1,200–2,000 civilians killed and about 6,000 civilians wounded
FHP: 218 Albanians, 204 Serbs and 30 others
3 Chinese citizens killed in NATO's bombing of China's embassy in Belgrade
Personal
40th and 42nd Governor of Arkansas
42nd President of the United States
Tenure
Policies
Appointments
Presidential campaigns
Seal of the President of the United States
President of Serbia and Yugoslavia
Elections
Family

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombings continued until an agreement was reached that led to the withdrawal of the Yugoslav Army from Kosovo, and the establishment of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, a UN peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. The official NATO operation code name was Operation Allied Force (Serbian: Савезничка сила / Saveznička sila) whereas the United States called it Operation Noble Anvil (Serbian: Племенити наковањ / Plemeniti nakovanj); in Yugoslavia, the operation was incorrectly called Merciful Angel (Serbian: Милосрдни анђео / Milosrdni anđeo), possibly as a result of a misunderstanding or mistranslation.

NATO's intervention was prompted by Yugoslavia's ethnic cleansing of Kosovar Albanians, which drove the Albanians into neighbouring countries and had the potential to destabilize the region. Yugoslavia's actions had already provoked condemnation by international organisations and agencies such as the UN, NATO, and various INGOs. Yugoslavia's rejection of the Rambouillet proposal was initially offered as justification for NATO's use of force, and NATO framed its bombing as a humanitarian intervention. Because Russia and China could use their veto within the Security Council to not authorize an external intervention, NATO launched its campaign without the UN's approval. The Charter of the United Nations prohibits the use of force except in the case of a decision by the Security Council under Article 42, Article 51 or Article 53. Hence, some scholars see NATO's bombing as illegal under international law.

By the end of the war, the Yugoslavs had killed 1,500 to 2,131 combatants. 10,317 civilians were killed or missing, with 85% of those being Kosovar Albanian and some 848,000 were expelled from Kosovo. The NATO bombing killed about 1,000 members of the Yugoslav security forces in addition to between 489 and 528 civilians. It destroyed or damaged bridges, industrial plants, hospitals, schools, cultural monuments, and private businesses, as well as barracks and military installations. In the days after the Yugoslav army withdrew, over 164,000 Serbs and 24,000 Roma left Kosovo. Many of the remaining non-Albanian civilians (as well as Albanians perceived as collaborators) were victims of abuse which included beatings, abductions, and murders. After Kosovo and other Yugoslav Wars, Serbia became home to the highest number of refugees and internally displaced persons (including Kosovo Serbs) in Europe.

The bombing was NATO's second major combat operation, following the 1995 bombing campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was the first time that NATO had used military force without the expressed endorsement of the UN Security Council and thus, international legal approval, which triggered debates over the legitimacy of the intervention.

Wikipedia source