Croat-Bosniak war

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Croat-Bosniak war

A war ravaged street in Mostar caused by Bosniak-Croat fighting

Date	June 20, 1992 – February 23, 1994
Location	Bosnia and Herzegovina, particularly in Central Bosnia and along the Neretva river
Result	Washington Agreement and the creation of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Belligerents

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Volunteers from Islamic countries

Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia

Croatia
Volunteers from Western Europe

Commanders

Alija Izetbegović (President of Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Sefer Halilović (Army chief of staff 1992-1993)
Rasim Delić (Army chief of Staff 1993-1995)
Arif Pašalić (Commander of the 4th Corps of ARBIH

Franjo Tuđman (President of Croatia)
Mate Boban (President of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia)

Milivoj Petković (HVO Chief of staff)
Dario Kordić (political leader of Croats in Central Bosnia)
Valentin Ćorić (commander of the military police in the HVO)

Vance-Owen Peace Plan
Serb - red
Croat - blue
Bosniak - green
Split control - white

Map of Bosniak Croat conflict
Serb - red
Croat - blue
Bosniak - green
Split control - white

The Croat-Bosniak war was a conflict between self-proclaimed Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia supported by Republic of Croatia and Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina lasted from June 20, 1992 – February 23, 1994. The ICTY effectively determined the war's nature to be international between Croatia and Bosnian and Herzegovina in numerous verdicts against Croat political and military leaders.^[1] The Croat-Bosniak war is often referred to as the war in a war because it was part of the larger War in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

1 Background
2 War breaks out
3 War ends
- 3.1 Gallery of maps
4 External links
- 4.1 Related films
5 References

[edit] Background

Main article: War in Bosnia and Herzegovina

During the Yugoslav wars, the objectives of nationalists from Croatia were shared by Croat nationalists in Bosnia and Herzegovina. ^[2] The ruling party in the Republic of Croatia, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), organized and controlled the branch of the party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. By the latter part of 1991, the more extreme elements of the party, under the leadership of Mate Boban, Dario Kordić, Jadranko Prlić, Ignac Koštroman and local leaders such as Anto Valenta^[2], and with the support of Franjo Tuđman and Gojko Šušak, had taken effective control of the party.

Following the declaration of independence, the Serbs attacked different parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The state administration of Bosnia and Herzegovina effectively ceased to function having lost control over the entire territory. The Croats and their leader Franjo Tuđman also aimed at securing parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina as Croatian. Secret discussions between Franjo Tuđman and Slobodan Milošević on the division of Bosnia and Herzegovina were held as early as March 1991 known as Karađorđevo agreement. The policies of the Republic of Croatia and its leader Franjo Tuđman towards Bosnia and Herzegovina were never totally transparent and always included Franjo Tuđman’s ultimate aim of expanding Croatia’s borders. ^[3]

On November 18, 1991, the party branch in Bosnia and Herzegovina, proclaimed the existence of the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia, as a separate "political, cultural, economic and territorial whole," on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. ^[4]

The ICTY illustrated this with the minutes of a meeting held on November 12, 1991 and signed by Mate Boban and Dario Kordić: "the Croatian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina must finally embrace a determined and active policy which will realise our eternal dream – a common Croatian state". On April 10, 1992, Mate Boban decreed that the Bosnian Territorial Defence (TO), which had been created the day before, was illegal on self-proclaimed Croat territory. On May 11, Tihomir Blaškić declared the TO illegal on the territory of the Kiseljak municipality.^[2]

Gornji Vakuf and Novi Travnik were initially attacked by Croats on June 20, 1992, but the attack failed. The Graz agreement caused deep division inside the Croat community and strengthened the separation group, which led to the conflict with Bosniaks. One of the primary pro-union Croat leaders, Blaž Kraljević (leader of the HOS armed group) was killed by HVO soldiers in August 1992, which severely weakened the moderate group who hoped to keep the Bosnian Croat alliance alive^[5].

[edit] War breaks out

On January 8, 1993 the Serbs killed the deputy prime minister of Bosnia an Herzegovina Hakija Turajlić after stopping the UN convoy which was taking him from the airport. On May 15-16 96% of Serbs voted to reject the Vance-Owen plan. After the failure of the Vance-Owen peace plan, which practically intended to divide the country into three ethnic parts, an armed conflict sprung between Bosniaks and Croats over the 30 percent of Bosnia they held. The peace plan was one of the factors leading to the escalation of the conflict, as Lord Owen avoided moderate Croat authorities (pro-unified Bosnia) and negotiated directly with more extreme elements (which were for separation).^[6]

Much of 1993 was dominated by the Croat-Bosniak war that became more serious in October 1992 when Croat forces attacked Bosniak civilian population in Prozor burning their homes and killing civilians. On January 1993 Croat forces attacked Gornji Vakuf again in order to connect Herzegovina with Central Bosnia.^[4]

The Lašva Valley ethnic cleansing campaign against Bosniak civilians planned by the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia's political and military leadership from May 1992 to March 1993 and erupting the following April, was meant to implement objectives set forth by Croat nationalists in November of 1991.^[2] The Lašva Valley's Bosniaks were subjected to persecution on political, racial and religious grounds^[7], deliberately discriminated against in the context of a widespread attack on the region's civilian population^[8] and suffered mass murder, rape, imprisonment in camps, as well as the destruction of cultural sites and private property. This was often followed by anti-Bosniak propaganda, particularly in the municipalities of Vitez, Busovača, Novi Travnik and Kiseljak.

The Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia took control of many municipal governments and services in Herzegovina as well, removing or marginalising local Bosniak leaders. Herzeg-Bosnia took control of the media and imposed Croatian ideas and propaganda. Croatian symbols and currency were introduced, and Croatian curricula and the Croatian language were introduced in schools. Many Bosniaks and Serbs were removed from positions in government and private business; humanitarian aid was managed and distributed to the Bosniaks' and Serbs' disadvantage; and Bosniaks in general were increasingly harassed. Many of them were deported into concentration camps: Heliodrom, Dretelj, Gabela, Vojno and Šunje.

Up till 1993 the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) and Army of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) had been fighting side by side against the superior forces of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) in some areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Even though armed confrontation and events like the Totic kidnappings strained the relationship between the HVO and ARBiH the Croat-Bosniak alliance held in Bihać pocket (northwest Bosnia) and the Bosanska Posavina (north), where both were heavily outmatched by Serb forces.

Mostar was also surrounded by the Croat forces for nine months, and much of its historic city was severely destroyed in shelling including the famous Stari Most bridge.

Bosnian Army launched an operation known as Neretva 93 against the Croatian Defence Council and Croatian Army in September 1993 in order to end the siege of Mostar and to recapture areas of Herzegovina, which were included in self-proclaimed Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia. The operation was stopped by Bosnian authorities after it received the information about the incidents against Croat civilians and POWs in villages of Grabovica and Uzdol.

The entire conflict caused the creation of more ethnic enclaves and further bloodshed in the, already war-ruined, Bosnia. The conflict was particularly devastating for Mostar and Gornji Vakuf.

[edit] War ends

The Croat-Bosniak war officially ended on February 23, 1994 when the Commander of HVO, general Ante Roso and commander of Bosnian Army, general Rasim Delić, signed a ceasefire agreement in Zagreb. In March 1994 a peace agreement mediated by the USA between the warring Croats (represented by Republic of Croatia) and Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was signed in Washington and Vienna which is known as the Washington Agreement. Under the agreement, the combined territory held by the Croat and Bosnian government forces was divided into ten autonomous cantons, establishing the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Croat leadership (Jadranko Prlić, Bruno Stojić, Slobodan Praljak, Milivoj Petković, Valentin Ćorić and Berislav Pušić) is presently on trial at the ICTY on charges including crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva conventions and violations of the laws or customs of war. Dario Kordić, political leader of Croats in Central Bosnia was convicted of the crimes against humanity in Central Bosnia i.e. ethnic cleansing and sentenced to 25 years in prison. ^[9] Bosnian commander Sefer Halilović was charged with one count of violation of the laws and customs of war on the basis of superior criminal responsibility of the incidents during Neretva 93 and found not guilty.

[edit] Gallery of maps

Ethnic composition in 1991	The front lines in 1993, while Croatian Defence Council (blue) was still allied with the Bosnian Army (green)	The front lines in 1994, at the end of the Bosniak-Croat war and after the signing of the Washington Agreement	The front lines in 1995, before Operation Storm
The front lines in 1995, before the Dayton Agreement	Estimated ethnic composition in 2005	map of Bosniak Croat conflict