Operation Corridor

Operation Corridor (Serbian: Operacija Koridor) an operation by the Army of Republika Srpska against the joint forces of the Croatian Defence Council and Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina that started in June 1992 and ended in July the same year. The goal of the operation was the creation of Brčko corridor that would connect the two parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina that were already under control of Republika Srpska. The operation was a Serbian success while the Croatian forces suffered heavy casualties.^[1]

The operation was part of the wider escalation of war and capture of the region of Bosanska Posavina by the Serb forces. They committed numerous war crimes that were later examined by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.^[2]

Background

In the summer of 1992, during the Bosnian war, the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) was in control of much of the western regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and much of the eastern part of the country, but the two parts of Republika Srpska were disconnected by a crucial corridor in the northeast of the country. There, the forces loyal to the government of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) and the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH), maintained control over most of the region of Bosanska Posavina, which is the name of the Bosnian part of the region that is the lowland by the right bank of the river Sava.

To the north of Bosnian Posavina, the Croatian parts of Posavina in Slavonia (on the left bank of the Sava) were mostly controlled by the Croatian Army forces (except for SAO Western Slavonia). According to data published by General Martin Špegelj, there were eight HVO brigades and fifteen Croatian army brigades in Bosanska Posavina, most of the brigades were present during the whole operation. Some of the brigades were backed up with artillery and tanks. In March 1992, before the Bosnian war was in full swing, the Sijekovac killings happened south of Bosanski Brod. On April 17, 1992, Bosanski Šamac was seized by Republika Srpska military forces.^[3] In April, Serb forces started the Doboj massacre and Bijeljina massacre in these nearby cities. On May 7, 1992, the city of Brčko came under the control of Republika Srpska. In the beginning of May 1992, all of the west-east roads that connected two parts of Republika Srpska were cut. The last road between the two parts was cut on May 15, 1992. In May, twelve newborn babies in the Banja Luka hospital died due to the lack of oxygen caused by the blockade.^[4] On May 15, 1992, the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) evacuated its barracks in Tuzla, and engaged in a battle with ARBiH known as the Tuzla column case. On May 20, 1992, United Nations Security Council Resolution 755 was passed, whereby the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was admitted to the UN. A number of other resolutions related to the war and extending UNPROFOR mandate were passed around the same time, but the attention was mostly on the Siege of Sarajevo. JNA were to withdraw all officers and troops that are not from Bosnia, but in practice these forces largely morphed into VRS, and were able to take over at least 60 per cent of the country.^[5]

Offensive

In the middle of June 1992, general Momir Talić, the commander of the VRS 1st Krajina Corps, gave Novica Simić the order to break the corridor across Trebava until June 28 (Vidovdan).

The action Koridor started on June 14, 1992 when members of VRS 16th Motorized Brigade under the command of Milan Čekeletić started attacking the Southern part of Derventa front. The clashes intensified on June 24 when the strong artillery led ARBiH to believe that VRS is trying to capture Tuzla. ARBiH then engaged 16 brigades, five motorized and eleven infantry. Motorized brigades were made from the members of regular Croatian army.

On June 26, soldiers from the VRS 1st Krajina corpus and the Eastern Bosnian Corpus met in the villages of Kornica and Čardak, located between Modriča and Šamac, thereby connecting the two parts of Republika Srpska. Fighting continued in July 1992 as the VRS captured Modriča (June 28), Derventa (July 7), and Odžak (July 13).

Aftermath

Three months later, on October 6, 1992, the Serbian forces captured Bosanski Brod. During the operation, according to official data there were 293 killed and 1,129 wounded members of VRS and RSK army, and according to unchecked sources there were 1,224 killed and 6,240 wounded members of the HVO but for the period from April to October 1992. In Prosecutor v. Simić et al, the ICTY prosecution alleged Blagoje Simić, Miroslav Tadić and Simo Zarić were responsible for a number of war crimes committed against non-Serb population in Bosanski Šamac. The prosecution's specific claim of ethnic cleansing of was not confirmed by the Trial Chamber.^[6]

In the initial indictment of Prosecutor v. Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić, the ICTY prosecution alleged the two were responsible for the destruction of various towns and villages in the area, including but not limited to Derventa, Bosanski Brod and Odžak.^[7]

References

Sources

• "Judgment: Simić et al. (IT-95-9) "Bosanski Šamac"". ICTY. 2003-10-17. http://www.icty.org/x/cases/simic/tjug/en/sim-tj031017e.pdf. Retrieved 2011-10-29. 
• "Initial Indictment: Prosecutor v. Karadžić and Mladić (IT-95-5-I)". ICTY. July 1995. http://www.icty.org/x/cases/mladic/ind/en/kar-ii950724e.pdf. Retrieved 2011-10-29. 
• ICTY: Simić et al. (IT-95-9) "Bosanski Šamac"