Operation Summer '95
Operation Summer '95 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Bosnian War and the Croatian War of Independence | |||||||
Map of Operation Summer '95 | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Croatia Herzeg-Bosnia |
Republika Srpska Republic of Serbian Krajina | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Zvonimir Červenko Ante Gotovina |
Ratko Mladić Radivoje Tomanić | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Croatian Army Croatian Defence Council Police of Herzeg-Bosnia |
Army of the Republic of Serb Krajina | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
8,500 troops | 5,500 troops | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
18 killed 155 wounded | unknown | ||||||
12,000–14,000 Bosnian Serb refugees |
Operation Summer '95 (
Operation Summer '95 was launched in response to the resumption of attacks by the VRS and the RSK military on the
Background
In August 1990,
The
In January 1992, the
As the JNA disengaged from Croatia, its personnel prepared to set up a new Bosnian Serb army; Bosnian Serbs declared the
The Bosnian Serb army—renamed the
Ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Herzegovina happened on a larger scale than in the RSK, and all the major ethnic groups became victims of ethnically motivated violence.[31] The conflict produced a vast number of displaced persons. It is estimated that there were over a million refugees in areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina outside VRS control at the end of 1994, while the area's total population was about 2.2 million.[32] About 720,000 Bosniaks, 460,000 Serbs and 150,000 Croats fled the country.[33] Croatia hosted a large proportion of the Bosniak and Croat refugees; by November 1992 there were around 333,000 registered, and an estimated 100,000 unregistered, refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina in Croatia.[34] The refugees left their homes under varied circumstances.[35] The ethnic violence committed by Bosnian Serbs against civilians resulted in the greatest number of civilian victims in the Bosnian war, culminating in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.[36]
Prelude
In November 1994, the
In March 1994, the
The Washington Agreement also resulted in a series of meetings between Croatian and US government and military officials held in Zagreb and Washington, D.C. On 29 November 1994, the Croatian representatives proposed to attack Serb-held territory from Livno in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to draw off a part of the force besieging Bihać and to prevent its capture by the Serbs. As the US officials gave no response to the proposal, the Croatian General Staff ordered Operation Winter '94 the same day, to be carried out by the HV and the Croatian Defence Council (HVO)—the main military force of the Bosnian Croats. Besides contributing to the defence of Bihać, the attack shifted the line of contact of the HV and the HVO closer to the RSK's supply routes.[46]
On 17 July, the RSK and the VRS militaries started Operation Sword-95, a push to capture Bihać by expanding on gains made during Operation Spider. The move provided the HV with a chance to extend their territorial gains from Operation Winter '94 by advancing from the Livno Valley. On 22 July, President of Croatia Franjo Tuđman and President of Bosnia and Herzegovina Alija Izetbegović signed the Split Agreement on mutual defence, permitting the large-scale deployment of the HV in Bosnia and Herzegovina.[56]
Order of battle
The HV and the HVO fielded Operational Group Rujani, a combined force controlled by the HV Split Corps under command of Lieutenant General
Corps | Unit | Note |
---|---|---|
Split Corps | 7th Guards Brigade | Facing Bosansko Grahovo |
1 company of the 114th Infantry Brigade | ||
81st Guards Battalion | In the Šator Mountain area | |
3rd Battalion of the 1st Guards Brigade | ||
elements of the 1st Croatian Guards Brigade
| ||
Special police of the Ministry of Interior of Herzeg-Bosnia | ||
2nd Guards Brigade, strengthened by Gavran-2 special forces company[60] | Facing Glamoč, HVO force | |
3rd Guards Brigade | ||
60th Guards Airborne Battalion | ||
22nd Sabotage Detachment | ||
4th Guards Brigade | Held in reserve | |
2nd Battalion of the 9th Guards Brigade | ||
1st Battalion of the 1st Guards Brigade | ||
Reconnaissance-Sabotage Company of the HV General Staff
|
Corps | Unit | Note |
---|---|---|
2nd Krajina Corps | 3rd Petrovac Light Infantry Brigade | In Bosansko Grahovo area |
9th Grahovo Light Infantry Brigade | ||
RSK Vijuga battlegroup | ||
3rd Serbian Infantry Brigade | In Glamoč area | |
5th Glamoč Light Infantry Brigade | ||
7th Kupres-Šipovo Motorized Brigade |
Operation timeline
Operation Summer '95 started at 0500 on 25 July. The HV 7th Guards Brigade advanced north-west along the Livno–Bosansko Grahovo road towards the town of Bosansko Grahovo—the offensive's main objective. A composite company drawn from the HV 114th Infantry Brigade attacked VRS positions on the right flank of the advance. The 7th Guards Brigade managed to move forward by about 2 kilometres (1.2 miles), but had to suspend its effort as the 114th Brigade company could not defeat the VRS' entrenched defences at Marino Brdo to cover the 7th Brigade's right flank. The VRS defences were well prepared all along the front line attacked by the HV and the HVO. The Bosansko Grahovo zone was particularly well prepared for defence—fortifications, shelters and covered trenches were built to establish defence in depth, with obstacles, including minefields, in between them.[57]
The same day, the HV/HVO force advancing towards Glamoč—the offensive's secondary objective—also met strong resistance from VRS troops. The HV 81st Guards Battalion advancing south-east from the
On 26 July, Gotovina deployed the 2nd Battalion of the 9th Guards Brigade to the Bosansko Grahovo axis. The battalion outflanked the VRS force blocking the HV 114th Infantry Brigade composite company and attacked the VRS defences from their rear. Even though the HV could not advance more than 1 kilometre (0.62 miles), the move was sufficient to allow the HV 7th Guards Brigade to press on with their attack and push the VRS back by 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) that day, reaching within 7 kilometres (4.3 miles) from Bosansko Grahovo.[62] The imminent threat to the town sitting astride the most significant route between the Republika Srpska and the RSK capital of Knin, became an urgent matter to the RSK. The 2nd Guards Brigade of the RSK Special Units Corps was ordered to disengage from the ARBiH 5th Corps in Bihać pocket area and move to Bosansko Grahovo to defend the town. A battalion of RSK police was also ordered to bolster the defence in the area. While the police battalion declined to deploy claiming that the General Staff had no authority over the police, the RSK 2nd Guards Brigade did not reach Bosansko Grahovo in time to contribute to the defence.[63]
On the second day of the operation, the HV 1st Guards Corps and the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Guards Brigade outflanked the VRS mountaintop position between the Šator Mountain and Glamoč that had blocked them the previous day, allowing the HV 81st Guards Battalion to advance a further 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) and threaten to interdict a road used by the VRS to supply Glamoč from the north. To secure the high ground south of Glamoč, Gotovina released the 1st Battalion of the HV 1st Guards Brigade, supported by an anti-terrorist unit of the HV 72nd Military Police Battalion, from the reserve and used them to attack VRS positions on the 1,600-metre (5,200 ft) Vrhovi Mountain. The HVO units continued their attack towards Glamoč, achieving little progress. The HVO 2nd Guards Brigade only advanced 1-kilometre (0.62 mi) towards Glamoč. By the end of its second day, Operation Summer '95 was suffering from delays.[62]
On 27 July, Gotovina reinforced the Bosansko Grahovo axis by deploying the
The HV 4th and 7th Guards Brigades defeated the VRS defences around Bosansko Grahovo on 28 July, and the two HV brigades captured the town that day. At the same time, the HV 81st Guards Battalion and the 1st HGZ, supported by the special police, moved north of Glamoč, reaching its outskirts and cutting the main route between the town and the rest of the Bosnian Serb-held territory. After the HV threatened the VRS positions in Glamoč from their rear, defence of the town became less determined and the HVO 2nd Guards Brigade, the 60th Guards Airborne Battalion and the 22nd Sabotage Detachment broke through the VRS defences. HVO troops attacking from the south captured Glamoč on 29 July.[62]
Aftermath
Gotovina assessed the VRS's resistance to the HV and the HVO units early on during the battle as fierce,[62] while former RSK officers said that the overall resistance of the VRS and the RSK battlegroup in Bosansko Grahovo area was not great.[64] Of the attacking HV/HVO forces, 18 men were killed in action and 155 were wounded.[65] Approximately 1,600 square kilometres (620 square miles) of territory changed hands and the Knin–Drvar road, vital to resupply of the RSK, was interdicted.[66] The offensive displaced between 12,000 and 14,000 Serb refugees who fled towards Banja Luka.[67]
On 30 July, the RSK declared a state of war and the RSK President
Operation Summer '95 failed to achieve its goal of relieving Bihać by drawing substantial RSK forces and the VRS away from the city to contain the HV/HVO advance. The RSK 2nd Guards Brigade was ordered to move from Bihać to Bosansko Grahovo,[62] and it remained in the Knin area until the beginning of the following HV offensive, Operation Storm, on 4 August.[75] The capture of Bosansko Grahovo and Glamoč by the HV and the HVO, their achievement of favourable positions to attack Knin and a large-scale HV mobilization in preparation for Operation Storm caused the RSK to shift its focus from Bihać. On 30 July, RSK civilian and military leaders, Milan Martić and General Mile Mrkšić, met with a personal representative of Secretary-General of the United Nations Yasushi Akashi and agreed upon a plan to withdraw from Bihać to prevent the expected Croatian offensive.[76] Days later, the area captured in Operation Summer '95 was used as a staging area for the 4th and the 7th Guards Brigades' advance into Knin in Operation Storm.[77] The VRS 2nd Krajina Corps tried to retake Bosansko Grahovo on the night of 11–12 August. Their advance from the direction of Drvar broke through the HV's reserve infantry left to garrison the area and reached the outskirts of the town, but was beaten back by two HV Guards battalions.[78]
Footnotes
- ^ The New York Times & 19 August 1990
- ^ a b ICTY & 12 June 2007
- ^ The New York Times & 2 April 1991
- ^ The New York Times & 3 March 1991
- ^ The New York Times & 26 June 1991
- ^ The New York Times & 29 June 1991
- ^ Narodne novine & 8 October 1991
- ^ Department of State & 31 January 1994
- ^ ECOSOC & 17 November 1993, Section J, points 147 & 150
- ^ EECIS 1999, pp. 272–278
- ^ The Independent & 10 October 1992
- ^ The New York Times & 24 September 1991
- ^ Bjelajac & Žunec 2009, pp. 249–250
- ^ The New York Times & 18 November 1991
- ^ a b The New York Times & 3 January 1992
- ^ Los Angeles Times & 29 January 1992
- ^ Thompson 2012, p. 417
- ^ The New York Times & 15 July 1992
- ^ The New York Times & 24 January 1993
- ^ ECOSOC & 17 November 1993, Section K, point 161
- ^ The New York Times & 13 September 1993
- ^ Ramet 2006, p. 382
- ^ Ramet 2006, p. 427
- ^ Ramet 2006, p. 428
- ^ Ramet 2006, p. 433
- ^ a b Bieber 2010, p. 313
- ^ Ramet 2006, p. 10
- ^ The Seattle Times & 16 July 1992
- ^ The New York Times & 17 August 1995
- ^ Ramet 2006, p. 443
- ^ Burg & Shoup 2000, pp. 171–185
- ^ Burg & Shoup 2000, p. 171
- ^ Burg & Shoup 2000, pp. 171–172
- ^ The New York Times & 23 November 1992
- ^ Burg & Shoup 2000, p. 172
- ^ Nettelfield 2010, p. 75
- ^ Halberstam 2003, p. 204
- ^ Halberstam 2003, p. 284
- ^ The Independent & 27 November 1994
- ^ Halberstam 2003, pp. 285–286
- ^ Halberstam 2003, p. 305
- ^ Halberstam 2003, p. 304
- ^ Halberstam 2003, p. 293
- ^ Halberstam 2003, p. 306
- ^ Hodge 2006, p. 104
- ^ a b c Jutarnji list & 9 December 2007
- ^ a b c Dunigan 2011, pp. 93–94
- ^ Woodward 2010, p. 432
- ^ The New York Times & 13 October 2002
- ^ RTS & 3 September 2011
- ^ Avant 2005, p. 104
- ^ Jutarnji list & 20 August 2010
- ^ RFE & 20 August 2010
- ^ Bono 2003, p. 107
- ^ Ramet 2006, p. 439
- ^ Bjelajac & Žunec 2009, p. 254
- ^ a b c d e f CIA 2002, p. 365
- ^ CIA 2002, p. 300
- ^ CIA 2002, Note 538/VII
- ^ CIA 2002, Note 536/VII
- ^ CIA 2002, pp. 365–366
- ^ a b c d e f CIA 2002, p. 366
- ^ Sekulić 2000, p. 165
- ^ Sekulić 2000, p. 163
- ^ Slobodna Dalmacija & 12 July 2007
- ^ Holjevac Turković 2009, p. 227
- ^ UNSC & 3 August 1995, p. 2
- ^ Marijan 2010, p. 236
- ^ Marijan 2010, p. 279
- ^ Marijan 2010, p. 322
- ^ Marijan 2010, pp. 280–281
- ^ a b Marijan 2010, p. 324
- ^ Marijan 2010, pp. 319–321
- ^ Marijan 2010, p. 283
- ^ Marijan 2010, p. 83
- ^ CIA 2002, p. 367
- ^ Marijan 2010, pp. 79–82
- ^ CIA 2002, p. 379
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