Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Emblem of Army of The Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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Emblem of Army of The Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH; Armija Republike Bosne i Hercegovine; Армија Републике Босне и Херцеговине) was an official military force of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina established by the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992 following the outbreak of the Bosnian War. Following the end of the war, and the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995, it was transformed into Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Under the State Defense Reform Law the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina were unified in to a single structure OSBiH making entity armies defunct.

Contents

[edit] Creation and composition

The Army of Republic of Bosnia and Hercegovina, was formed on April 15 1992 during the early days of the Bosnian War. Before the ARBiH was officially created, a number of paramilitary and civil defense groups such as the Green Berets, Patriotic league and the local Territorial Defence (TO) units has been founded. Other irregular groups included criminal bands, as well as collections of police and former JNA soldiers.

The army was formed in poor circumstances, and suffored from a very limited supply of arms. Critical deficiencies included tank and heavy weaponry. The first commander of the army was Sefer Halilović.

The army was divided into Corps, each stationed in a particular territory. In 1993, most brigades were renamed as Mountain troops given that the lack of heavy weapons made it organizationally pointless to list them as infantry or motorized. In addition, Bosnian terrain favored light infantry over armored and mechanized formations.

Image:Armija bih 231.JPG
The ARBIH on Parade.

[edit] Generals

  • Sefer Halilović (first commander)
  • Jovan Divjak (second commander)
  • Stjepan Šiber (third commander)
  • Rasim Delić (commander)
  • Mustafa Hajrulahović Talijan (first commander of the 1st Corps)
  • Atif Dudaković (second commander of the 5th Corps)
  • Ramiz Dreković (first commander of the 4th Corps)
  • Mehmed Alagić (first commander of the 7th Corps)
  • Željko Knez (first commander of the 2nd Corps)

[edit] Bosnian War

[edit] 1992

In 1992, 70% of Bosnia was under JNA (Yugoslav People's Army), and then later VRS (Bosnian Serb Army), control. Sarajevo was under siege. The ARBiH had defended Sarajevo with light weaponry. The army was surrounded and the transfer of supplies was hard, if not impossible.

[edit] 1993

1993 saw no major changes in the front lines. Instead, this year marked the start of the Bosniak-Croat war in Central Bosnia and in Herzegovina, notably the Mostar region. The initial offensive of the Bosnian Croat HVO (Croatian Defence Council) was stopped by ARBiH units, which then began a counter offensive named Neretva 93. As the ARBiH prepared a new offensive, peace was negotiated.

As a result of the war between HVO and ARBiH, the Bosnian Serbs gained control over considerable territories around the city of Goražde. These territorial losses put an end to the possibility of liberating the west side of Visegrad and creating a safe corridor (and natural front line) along the Drina river to the towns of Žepa and Srebrenica.

[edit] 1994

A renewed alliance between HVO and ARBiH was agreed, with the objective of forming a strong force that could fight the much stronger and equipped VRS. This was the time of frequent peace negotiations.

[edit] 1995

Despite the loss of several enclaves, most notably Srebrenica, 1995 was marked by HVO and ARBiH offensives and later by NATO intervention. The Croatian army, with cooperation from ARBiH and HVO, launched a number of operations, most notably the Operation Storm and Operation Sana 95. Ethnic Serb forces were driven out from Croatia, and from part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Only peace negotiations stopped the further Serb-held towns falling. NATO intervention in few days destroyed much of the VRS' infrastructure in the Operation Deliberate Force. The war ended with the signing of the Dayton Accord.

[edit] External links

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