Igman

Coordinates: 43°44′N 18°09′E / 43.74°N 18.15°E / 43.74; 18.15
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Igman
Игман
Igman in winter
Highest point
Elevation1,510 m (4,950 ft)
Coordinates43°44′N 18°09′E / 43.74°N 18.15°E / 43.74; 18.15
Geography
Igman is located in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Igman
Igman
Location in BiH
LocationBosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina
Parent rangeDinaric Alps

Igman (

high mine risk.[1]

Sports

During the 1984 Winter Olympics, Igman was, along with Jahorina and Bjelašnica, the location of the competition in the alpine and Nordic sports disciplines. Igman hosted primarily the Nordic disciplines; the Igman Olympic Jumps in the Malo Polje area were the site of the ski jumping events and also the ski jumping part of the Nordic combined events. Meanwhile, the Veliko Polje hosted the biathlon, cross-country skiing, and the cross-country skiing part of the Nordic combined event.[2] In preparation of the Games a road was constructed across the Igman plateau connecting Sarajevo through Hadžići to the Malo Polje, Veliko Polje and Babin Dol venues. There were numerous structures constructed on Igman at this time, although many stand destroyed or bear the scars of the 1992-1995 conflict. One of the most eye catching structures remains the Ski Jumping platform at Malo Polje.

Recent military history

World War II

Although the Igman area may probably have been the scene of military controversy in the earlier

342. Infanterie-Division
, crossed Igman in what is known as the "Igman March". With temperatures reaching −32 °C (−26 °F), 172 Partisans suffered severe hypothermic injury, 6 of whom died.[12] When they approached the German–Italian demarcation line south of Sarajevo, the Partisans were able to infiltrate through the weak Italian cordon. A monument in memory of the Partisan struggle in this area is to be found on Veliko Polje.

Bosnian War

Mount Igman was usurped in the course of the

UN-controlled airport of Sarajevo
.

After the completion of the Sarajevo Tunnel under the airport in July 1993, the small unpaved forest road passing over Mt Igman became the sole important supply road into the besieged city. The ARBiH-controlled central plateau of Igman came under increased VRS pressure when the suspicion became stronger that the area had become a major logistical artery of the besieged city. A major VRS offensive started July 1993 and on August 4, 1993 Serb forces captured part of the Igman supply road.[3] The VRS advance was stopped under threat of NATO airstrikes.[4]

The area was declared a

General Rose and ARBiH Commander General Delić, with VRS Commander Mladić waiting for an opportunity to close the gap.[5]
Trucks on the Igman supply road's narrow last stretch descending the steep north-eastern slope became fully exposed to fire from VRS artillery positions in Ilidža and Vojkovici.

Meanwhile, the ARBiH units remaining on the plateau were formally restricted to R&R activities, notably resulting in the building of the Igman Džamija, a wooden mosque in the forest, still much frequented today. The Igman supply road remained the almost exclusive supply route into Sarajevo until the end of the war. It was also the only entry and exit road for the Bosnian political leadership. Bosnian president Alija Izetbegović and foreign secretary Muhamed Sacirbey traveled through this road.[6]

Foreign negotiators tended to avoid the road as it was "often described as the most dangerous road in Europe".

Robert Frasure, Nelson Drew and Joe Kruzel as well as the French Corporal-driver perished in the incident.[8]
The battered APC is still to be seen where it ultimately came to a halt - next to a memorial site for the victims.

By mid-1995 the military situation became very tense again, and in August 1995 the VRS launched another offensive forcing UNPROFOR from the Bjelašnica ridge and advancing again towards Veliko Polje. After the

search radars
and heavy artillery, engaging any actively firing VRS artillery installation around Sarajevo until 14 September 1995, when the NATO air strikes were suspended to allow the implementation of the withdrawal of VRS heavy weapons from the Sarajevo exclusion zone, effectively ending the Siege of Sarajevo. A number of memorials and war cemetery sites is found throughout the Igman plateau.

Gallery

  • Ski jumping hills on Igman in spring
    Ski jumping hills on Igman in spring
  • Sarajevo seen from Igman
    Sarajevo seen from Igman
  • Igman The former wartime supply road
    Igman The former wartime supply road
  • Mt Igman French APC in which members of 1995 US Peace Mission perished.
    Mt Igman French APC in which members of 1995 US Peace Mission perished.
  • Igman Hrasnicki Stan
    Igman Hrasnicki Stan
  • view of Mt. Igman from Sarajevo
    view of Mt. Igman from Sarajevo
  • Ruins of Hotel Igman on the mountain
    Ruins of Hotel Igman on the mountain

Skiing and hiking

Igman is nowadays a popular destination for

mountain-biking, hiking and skiing. Skiers will find -apart from 2 baby lifts- a single major skilift at Malo Polje that will bring them to 1,490 metres (4,888 feet) with a single descent piste of 1.6 kilometres (1.0 mile) red/bleu with a black split-off of 0.2 kilometres (0.1 miles). Mountain bikers will find a vast network of forest roads on Igman. The steep north-eastern slope of Igman is especially popular with the mountain bikers, who use the former wartime supply road to climb from Hrasnica up to an altitude of 1,250 metres (4,101 feet), and then descend with some bravura via a hiking trail. This hiking trail connects the village with the main mountain hut in the area: Hrasnički Stan. Another trail leads from Hrasnica to the Memorial for the deceased American diplomats and the memorial plaque for the French military fallen on this road and ends also at Hrasnički Stan. From there other trails lead to the mountain hut at Malo Polje proceeding further east towards the Javornik mountain hut.[10]

Other

At the very foot of the mountain, close to

UXO. Demining activities on former frontlines have taken place and are still taking place around recreational areas and the main roads.[11]

One of the primeval forests of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ravna Vala is also located on mountain Igman.

Igman Initiative

Main article: Igman Initiative

The Igman mountain, with its wartime legacy, has lend its name to a non-governmental/political initiative that is aimed at bringing the former belligerents in the region together. The mission of the Igman Initiative is to encourage normalization of the overall relations among the countries of the

NGOs from the nations ratifying the Dayton Agreement
. The participating organizations agreed to formally join their efforts to stimulate the normalization of relations among the three countries. At the second session of the conference, held in Novi Sad, 2001, the Igman Initiative was established and a Council was appointed. The new institution would speed up the process of normalizing the relations. The Igman Initiative is now governed by four co-Presidents from Croatia, BiH, Serbia and Montenegro and its Council is currently composed of twenty members, five per country. The Igman Initiative efforts are essentially still aimed at establishing good neighbourly relations, building mutual trust and tolerance and overcoming all types of discrimination in the countries of the region.

References and footnotes

  1. ^ BiH Mine Action Centre (Annually updated) Mine Map
  2. ^ 1984 Winter Olympics official report. pp. 18-58, 106-7.
  3. ^ Milos Stankovic: Trusted Mole page 192-193 Harper Collins London paperback ed 2001
  4. ^ Mark A. Bucknam: Responsibility of Command, page 108-112, Air university Press, Alabama 2003
  5. ^ Steven L. Burg, Paul S. Shoup: The War in Bosnia Herzegovina: Ethnic Conflict and International Intervention page 142-144 M.E. Sharpe Inc. New York 2000
  6. ISBN 0-375-50057-X
  7. ISBN 0-375-50057-X
  8. ISBN 0-375-50057-X
  9. ^ Mark A. Bucknam: Responsibility of Command, page 279-288, Air university Press, Alabama 2003
  10. ^ Listing of mountain huts at www.behremplaninar.com
  11. ^ See: "BH MAC : News". Archived from the original on 2013-03-30. Retrieved 2012-10-30.
  12. ^ In an interview with Radio Free Europe one of the activist, Ivan Stambolic, said “because of the people in Sarajevo and solidarity with them, but also in support of the people in Serbia who have been against the war and destruction of the city and the people in it, but also because of war monger and instigators . . . with this act I want to show that patriotism, lest humanism, is a lie.”
  13. ^ At that time the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) still consisted of Serbia and Montenegro.

External links

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