Siege of Goražde

The Siege of Goražde (Bosnian: Opsada Goražda) refers to engagements during the Bosnian War (1992–95) in and around the town of Goražde in eastern Bosnia.

Siege of Goražde
Part of the Bosnian War
Date April 1992 – October 1995 Location Goražde, Bosnia and Herzegovina Result Dayton Agreement
Belligerents
Yugoslav People's Army (1992) Army of Republika Srpska (1992–95) Serb Volunteer Guard (1992, 1995) Scorpions paramilitary unit (1995) Police, volunteers and paramilitaries from Yugoslavia (1995) Greek Volunteer Guard (1995) Russian volunteers (1995)	Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Commanders and leaders
Ratko Mladić Radislav Krstić Zdravko Tolimir Milorad Pelemiš	Zaim Imamović (officer) (April 1992 – October 1995) Sifet Krekić (April 1992 – October 1995)
Strength
~2,000 soldiers	~6,000 soldiers
Casualties and losses
511 civilians

On 4 May 1992, Goražde was besieged by the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS).[1] Goražde was one of six Bosniak enclaves, along with Srebrenica and Žepa, surrounded and besieged by the Bosnian Serb Army. VRS began a campaign of indiscriminate shelling, often hitting civilian buildings and inflicting mass casualties. In return, the local units of the Bosnian Ministry of the Interior (MUP) began a campaign of retribution against the Bosnian Serb civilians who were still living in the city. Dozens of local Serbs were arrested and executed in the local school; a hundred more, including women and children, were forcibly held as human shields to protect the police station from shelling.[2][3] To note, these allegations are cited from RTRS, a pro-Serb media arm. Despite the presence of United Nations personnel throughout the siege, no member of the international community has confirmed the execution allegations as credible. In October 2019, the state court in Sarajevo found Ibro Merkez guilty, as the former chief of the police’s Public Security Station in Gorazde, of unlawfully detaining Serb civilians and treating them in inhumanely manner between the middle of July 1992 and August 4 the same year [4] Merkez was sentenced to two years in prison, while two other former policemen, Predrag Bogunic and Esef Huric, were acquitted of all charges. Merkez was further acquitted of charges related to the period after August 4, 1992, because he was wounded and underwent medical treatment.[5]

In August 1992, 1st and 31st Drina Strike Brigades of the ARBiH successfully accomplished the Operation Circle, thereby pushing the VRS forces out of the eastern suburbs.[6] However, the siege continued.

In April 1993 Goražde was made into a United Nations Safe Area in which the United Nations was supposed to deter attacks on the civilian population.[7]

Between 30 March and 23 April 1994, the Serbs launched a major offensive against the town. After air strikes against Serb tanks and outposts and a NATO ultimatum, Serb forces agreed to withdraw their artillery and armored vehicles 20 km (12 mi) from the town.[8]

In 1995 Goražde was again targeted by the VRS, who ignored the ultimatum and launched an attack on UN guard posts. Around 350 UN servicemen were taken hostage but the remaining men from the Royal Welch Fusiliers who were already stationed there and reinforcement Bosniak troops prevented the VRS from taking over the town. Goražde avoided the fate of Srebrenica, where the Bosnian Serbs continued on to after the failed attempt.[9]