Siege of Srebrenica

1992 - 1995 siege during the Bosnian War

Siege of Srebrenica

Part of the Bosnian War

A panorama of the town of Srebrenica
| Date| 9 May 1992 – 11 July 1995

|

Location|

Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina

44°06′15″N 19°17′50″E﻿ / ﻿44.10417°N 19.29722°E﻿ / 44.10417; 19.29722
Result|  Serb victory
Territorial
changes|  Republika Srpska captures the Srebrenica enclave
Belligerents

Yugoslav People's Army (1992)

* * *

Army of Republika Srpska (1992–95)
Serb Volunteer Guard (1992, 1995)
Scorpions paramilitary unit (1995)
Police, volunteers and paramilitaries from Yugoslavia (1995)
Greek volunteers (1993–95)
Russian volunteers (1995)|  Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
NATO (1995)
Commanders and leaders
Ratko Mladić
Radislav Krstić
Zdravko Tolimir
Milorad Pelemiš|  Naser Orić (May 1992 – April 1995)
Ramiz Bećirović (WIA) (April–July 1995)
Strength
~1,500 soldiers (before Krivaja '95)
3,000 soldiers (during Krivaja '95)|  ~6,000 soldiers
Air Support
Casualties and losses
Total: 9,377 war-related deaths in the Srebrenica municipality (1992–1995)[1]

* v
* t
* e

Bosnian War

* Sarajevo
* Sarajevo JNA column
* Foča
* Zvornik
* Doboj
* Prijedor
* Siege of Srebrenica
* Massacre
* Tuzla JNA column
* Bihać
* Jackal
* Vrbas '92
* Corridor 92
* Smoluća
* Korićani Cliffs
* Croat–Bosniak War
* Bura
* Battle of Žepče
* Kravica
* Duša
* Štrpci
* Battle of Travnik (1993)
* Mostar
* Deny Flight
* Ahmići
* Trusina
* Sovići/Doljani
* Dobrinja
* Bugojno
* Mokronoge
* Grabovica
* Neretva '93
* Stupni Do massacre
* Križančevo Selo
* 1st Markale
* Banja Luka
* Tvigi 94
* Washington Agreement
* Bøllebank
* Amanda
* Tiger
* Spider
* 2nd Kupres
* Udbina airstrike
* Winter '94
* Leap 1
* Vlašić
* Orašje
* Pale airstrikes
* Tuzla
* Vrbanja Bridge
* Leap 2
* Mrkonjić Grad
* Vozuća
* Miracle
* Summer '95
* Storm
* 2nd Markale
* Deliberate Force
* Mistral 2
* Sana
* Una
* Southern Move

The siege of Srebrenica (Serbo-Croatian: Opsada Srebrenice, Опсада Сребреницe) was a three-year siege of the town of Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina which lasted from April 1992 to July 1995 during the Bosnian War. Initially assaulted by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and the Serbian Volunteer Guard (SDG), the town was encircled by the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) in May 1992, starting a brutal siege which was to last for the majority of the Bosnian War. In June 1995, the commander of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) in the enclave, Naser Orić, left Srebrenica and fled to the town of Tuzla. He was subsequently replaced by his deputy, Major Ramiz Bećirović.

In July 1995, Srebrenica fell to the combined forces of the Republika Srpska and numerous paramilitary formations which included hundreds of Greek and Russian volunteers in what was codenamed Operation Krivaja '95 (Serbo-Croatian: Operacija Krivaja '95, Операција Криваја '95). The subsequent massacre of the town's male population led to the deaths of more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys, and is considered the largest act of mass murder in Europe since the end of World War II. It was judged to have been a crime of genocide by international criminal courts. As a result, VRS General Radislav Krstić was found guilty by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) of murder, persecution and aiding and abetting genocide, while VRS General Zdravko Tolimir was also convicted of genocide. Both men were sentenced to life imprisonment. One of the indictments against Ratko Mladić, the commander of the VRS during the war, is for the massacre in Srebrenica. The commander of Bosniak forces in the enclave, Naser Orić, was found guilty of failing to prevent the mistreatment of VRS prisoners held in Srebrenica between September 1992 and March 1993. However, his conviction was overturned in 2008.

## Background[edit]

Srebrenica is a small mining town in eastern Bosnia about fifteen kilometers from the Serbian border.[2][3] According to a census held in 1991, 36,000 people lived in the municipality of Srebrenica, including 25,000 Bosnian Muslims (or Bosniaks) and 8,500 Serbs.[4] This figure shows that about 75 percent of the municipal population was Bosniak and about 25 percent was Serb.[5] The town of Srebrenica itself was inhabited by 9,000 people when Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1992.[2] That January, a Bosnian Serb state was declared, ahead of the 29 February–1 March referendum on independence.[6] Later renamed the Republika Srpska,[7] it developed its own military as the JNA withdrew from Croatia and handed over its weapons, equipment and 55,000 troops to the newly created Bosnian Serb army.[6] By 1 March, Bosnian Serb forces set up barricades in Sarajevo and elsewhere and later that month Bosnian Serb artillery began shelling the town of Bosanski Brod.[8] By 4 April, Sarajevo was shelled.[7] In May 1992, the ground forces of Bosnian Serb state officially became known as the Army of Republika Srpska (Serbian: Vojska Republike Srpske, VRS).[9] By the end of 1992, the VRS held seventy percent of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[10]

At the outbreak of the war, eastern Bosnia, a Bosniak-majority territory before the war,[11] was subjected to ethnic cleansing operations and numerous atrocities involving murder, rape on a massive scale, plundering, and forced relocation by Serb forces and paramilitary gangs.[12][2] Taking place throughout the municipalities of Srebrenica, Vlasenica, Rogatica, Bratunac, Višegrad, Zvornik and Foča,[13] the purpose of these operations was to create in eastern Bosnia a contiguous Serb-controlled land having a common border with Serbia.[5] Located in the heart of what Bosnian Serbs considered their territory, Srebrenica was seized by the paramilitary Serb Volunteer Guard (Serbian: Srpska dobrovoljačka garda, or SDG)[2] on 18 April 1992. According to a witness, "organized killings of the Muslim population began" on 21 April. On 6 May, a two-day battle between Serb and Muslim forces erupted in the town.[14] Naser Orić, a one-time member of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs and former bodyguard of Serbian President Slobodan Milošević, then assumed control of Srebrenica after helping local Bosniak forces drive the SDG and other Serb paramilitary units from the town[15] by 8 May. Goran Zekić, the leader of the Serb population in the municipality, was killed in the fighting. In June, the Muslim population of Srebrenica established a local "war council". By December 1992, they had managed to gain control of up to 95 percent of the Srebrenica municipality and half of the neighbouring Bratunac municipality.[14] By this time, Orić's forces had established a sixty-kilometer-long Bosniak enclave which stretched from Žepa in the south to the village of Kamenica in the north,[15] however only to be surrounded and in dire need of food by February 1993[16] while the population of the enclave grew to almost 40,000 as refugees from the surrounding ethnically cleansed towns and villages sought refuge in the town.[2] Indeed, most of the enclave's residents were not originally from Srebrenica, but from all around eastern Bosnia or Podrinje.[17]

## Siege[edit]

In the words of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY):[18]

> Between April 1992 and March 1993, the town of Srebrenica and the villages in the area held by Bosniaks were constantly subjected to Serb military assaults, including artillery attacks, sniper fire, as well as occasional bombing from aircraft. Each onslaught followed a similar pattern. Serb soldiers and paramilitaries surrounded a Bosniak village or hamlet, called upon the population to surrender their weapons, and then began with indiscriminate shelling and shooting. In most cases, they then entered the village or hamlet, expelled or killed the population, who offered no significant resistance, and destroyed their homes. During this period, Srebrenica was subjected to indiscriminate shelling from all directions on a daily basis. Potočari in particular was a daily target for Serb artillery and infantry because it was a sensitive point in the defence line around Srebrenica. Other Bosniak settlements were routinely attacked as well. All this resulted in a great number of refugees and casualties.

In his ICTY testimony, VRS Intelligence Chief Momir Nikolić recounted how Bosnian Serb forces were instructed to make life in Srebrenica unbearable in order to induce its civilian population to "leave en masse as soon as possible, realizing they cannot survive there." As part of this, Nikolić conceded that civilians were targeted and humanitarian aid blocked while fuel, food and other supplies for UN peacekeepers were halted so that "they could not be ready for combat".[19]

While the Bosnian Serbs enjoyed military superiority, they were outnumbered by the Bosniaks who adopted a type of guerrilla warfare, which in the second half of 1992 and up to early 1993 was quite successful.[18] In an attempt to press outward,[3] Orić and his men conducted a series of raids against outlying Serb villages, or from which Bosniaks had formerly been expelled, ostensibly to seize food, weapons, ammunition and military equipment, but also to exact punishment on the local Serb population for the VRS's harassment of the enclave.[20][18] During these events, Bosniak forces committed apparent violations of humanitarian law against the Bosnian Serb inhabitants, especially from May 1992 to January 1993.[21] The most notable of these violations occurred on 7 January 1993, when Orić's men attacked the Serb village of Kravica, which bordered the Srebrenica enclave. Forty-three Serbs were killed in the attack, including 13 civilians. Orić's forces destroyed many of the villages that fell into their hands during the siege, killing perhaps 1,000 Serb soldiers and civilians:[22] while the number of Serb soldier fatalities is unknown, the Research and Documentation Center (RDC), an organisation that compiled the most comprehensive record of deaths during the Bosnian War, established that 158 Serb civilians died in the Srebrenica municipality during the war, while a further 127 died in the Bratunac municipality.[23] In an earlier report, it concluded that 119 Serb civilians and 424 soldiers were killed in the Bratunac municipality.[24] Thousands of others were displaced by such attacks, which resulted in the destruction of at least 50 Serb settlements, according to the ICTY.[25] In addition, the territory of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was shelled by the ARBiH.[22]

In January 1993, ARBiH soldiers machine-gunned dozens of Serb civilians fleeing the village of Skelani.[26] In February 1993, a Srebrenica delegation visiting Sarajevo proposed that one Sarajevan Serb be killed for every Bosniak killed in Srebrenica.[27] At this time, the Srebrenica enclave had reached its peak size of 900 square kilometers, although it was never linked to the main area of Bosnian-held land in the west and remained "a vulnerable island amid Serb-controlled territory."[3] In response, the VRS launched numerous operations against the town.[21] In March 1993, General Ratko Mladić of the VRS ordered the Bosnian Serb forces besieging the town to launch a large-scale counterattack. The attack resulted in the Bosnian Serbs capturing 80 percent of the territory of the Srebrenica enclave once held by the 28th Division of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH).[19] However, the VRS was forced to stop its offensive after the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 819, which called for talks between the Bosniak and Bosnian Serb military leadership and the de-militarization of Srebrenica which was declared a "safe-area". However, because of differing interpretations of the resolution, Srebrenica was never disarmed.[28] Instead, it was surrounded by a force of approximately 2,000 men from the VRS Drina Corps, which continued its stranglehold of the enclave.[29]

Areas of military control in Bosnia and Herzegovina in September 1994; eastern Bosnian enclaves near the Serbian border

The VRS shelled Srebrenica on 12 April 1993, killing at least 56 people and wounding 73.[30] Within weeks, the town's population swelled from 9,000 to 40,000 as Bosniak refugees fled from the surrounding countryside.[19] However, neither this counterattack nor the United Nations' designation of the town as a "safe area" ended Orić's raids against neighbouring Serb villages, which persisted at a rate of 3–4 per week as Bosniak forces searched for food to steal from the surrounding countryside. As a result, the VRS warned the UN peacekeeping units in Srebrenica that Bosnian Serb forces would retaliate against the town's civilian population if Bosniak forces continued attacking Serb villages.[19] The situation in Srebrenica subsequently worsened, with the refugees and townspeople running out of food and water. Despite this, the VRS only occasionally permitted humanitarian aid to the besieged town.[31] In one instance, the VRS permitted the evacuation of about 5,000 Bosniak women and children from Srebrenica. During these evacuations, six children were crushed to death while clambering to board a bus destined for Tuzla.[32] Afterwards, the VRS made an offer that would allow the UN to send in any number of trucks and buses into the enclave to evacuate its Bosniak population. However, this offer was rejected by many in the United Nations, the United States and the Bosnian government, who claimed that arranging an evacuation would "assist the process of ethnic cleansing." [31][32]

In 1994, the Canadian peacekeeping battalion (CANBAT) in Srebrenica was replaced by a battalion of Dutch peacekeepers (DUTCHBAT).[33] With the VRS outnumbered and overextended countrywide in the winter of 1994, Mladić reasoned that it would be necessary to consolidate Bosnian Serb forces by eliminating one or more of the UN "safe areas" and the ARBiH garrisons located within them. Although attacking them would violate UN resolutions, Mladić believed that international forces would not confront the VRS as long as UNPROFOR units were vulnerable to suffering heavy casualties and hostage takings.[34] A subsequent hostage crisis in which UN personnel were seized and used as human shields to prevent NATO airstrikes destroyed the credibility of UN deterrence in Bihać and Sarajevo. Mladić then turned his attention to Srebrenica, Goražde and Žepa, whose seizure would release considerable VRS forces for redeployment against an expected Croatian Army–ARBiH offensive in western Bosnia, while strengthening the Bosnian Serb claim to the entire Drina valley in case of a future peace settlement. Due their location, Srebrenica and Žepa were the most vulnerable of the UN "safe areas" in Bosnia, in stark contrast to Goražde, where UN forces had resisted the VRS before being enforced by the ARBiH.[35]

Bosniak raids from the town intensified in the beginning of 1995, with Orić's forces being ordered by the ARBiH to "reconnoiter, disrupt, divert and demoralize" VRS soldiers, who subsequently retaliated with counterattacks of their own.[19] In March 1995, Radovan Karadžić, President of the Republika Srpska, issued Directive 7, setting out the long-term strategy for VRS forces surrounding Srebrenica and Žepa. The aim of the VRS was to be to "complete the physical separation of Srebrenica from Žepa as soon as possible, preventing even communication between individuals in the two enclaves. By planned and well thought out combat operations, create an unbearable situation of total insecurity with no hope of further survival or life for the inhabitants of Srebrenica."[36] During this time, Orić ordered the murder of many political opponents[37] and profited from smuggling supplies on the black market.[38][37] At night, his men would break out from the enclave and participate in illicit trade with Bosnian Serb villagers and would also often loot the Serb countryside.[38]

In the last two weeks of June, a VRS unit was ambushed twenty kilometers northwest of the Srebrenica enclave. By this time Orić had already been transferred to the Bosniak-held town of Tuzla,[19] ostensibly to participate in a "command training" exercise.[39] He was replaced by his deputy, Major Ramiz Bećirović,[40] who had been seriously injured in a helicopter crash two months earlier and was barely able to walk.[41] Orić's departure effectively left Srebrenica without effective leadership.[37] Despite this, ARBiH headquarters ordered another attack against Bosnian Serb units on the Sarajevo-Zvornik road for the evening of 25–26 June. With a force of 150 men, Bosniak forces inflicted forty casualties VRS casualties and seized weapons, radios and livestock.[19] Mladić then contacted the UN headquarters in Sarajevo and indicated that he would no longer tolerate Bosniak incursions into the Bosnian Serb countryside.[31] Bosnian Serb forces retaliated by shelling Srebrenica, prompting the Bosniaks to respond that the VRS was again shelling a UN safe area.[19]

In contrast to Srebrenica, the peacekeeping unit in Žepa managed to safely evacuate over 10'000 civilians, who were spared the fate of those in Srebrenica.

Main article: Siege of Žepa

## Fall of Srebrenica[edit]

### Operation Krivaja '95[edit]

Operation Krivaja '95
Oпeрaциja Криваја '95

Part of the Bosnian War

A map depicting the capture of Srebrenica by Bosnian Serb forces
| Date| 6–11 July 1995

|

Location|

Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Result|

Decisive Bosnian Serb victory

* Beginning of the Srebrenica massacre

Belligerents
Army of Republika Srpska
Serb Volunteer Guard
Scorpions paramilitary unit
Police, volunteers and paramilitaries from Yugoslavia
Greek volunteers
Russian volunteers|  Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH)|

UNPROFOR

* Dutchbat
* Ukrainian peacekeepers

Commanders and leaders
Ratko Mladić
Radislav Krstić
Zdravko Tolimir
Milenko Živanović
Milorad Pelemiš|  Ramiz Bećirović|  Thomas Karremans
Strength
1,500–2,000 soldiers
200–300 volunteers
100 volunteers|  6,000 soldiers|  270 peacekeepers
Casualties and losses
Unknown|  More than 8,000 civilians dead and 35,632 evacuated|  1 peacekeeper killed, hundreds taken hostage

Operation Krivaja '95 (Serbian: Oпeрaциja Криваја '95, Bosnian: Operacija Krivaja '95) was the codename of a military operation launched by the VRS against formations of the ARBIH in the UN enclave of Srebrenica. Launched on 6 July 1995, the operation ended the three-year-long siege of the town and was followed by the Srebrenica massacre, which has been ruled a crime of genocide by international courts of law.

In late-June 1995, Ratko Mladić made the decision to launch an attack on Srebrenica, which evidence indicates was always part of his long-term strategy.[19] However, the Serbs did not expect Srebrenica to be an easy conquest.[19] With 100 members of the Greek Volunteer Guard,[42] together with 2,000–3,000 reinforcements and 200–300 members of the Serb Volunteer Guard, the Bosnian Serbs could hardly muster 4,000–5,000 men for the offensives against Srebrenica and Žepa. Of these, it was estimated that only 2,000 would take part in the thrust to capture Srebrenica in July 1995.[43] The Bosniaks, not as well-armed as their opponents, had a military force of 6,000 men within the town, about one-third or one-half of whom were armed.[44] 1,500 of these were professional soldiers and 1,500 were armed militiamen.[38] Also in the town were the 570 lightly-armed peacekeepers of the Dutch battalion (DUTCHBAT).[45]

The compound that served as the headquarters of the Dutch Battalion in Potočari.

On 2 July, Major General Milenko Živanović, then commander of the Drina Corps of the VRS, signed two orders laying out the plans for an attack on the UN protected area at Srebrenica codenamed Krivaja '95. The objective of the operation was for the VRS to attack the enclave, and effectively eliminate it.[45] Alongside police and paramilitary units from both the Republika Srpska and Yugoslavia, as well as Greek and Russian volunteers, the VRS began attacking various points at the southern edge of the Srebrenica enclave on 6 July.[45] The forces of the VRS, numbering 1,500 in the initial stages of the attack,[46] then shelled a series of Dutch observation posts in the southern portion of the enclave, forcing the Dutch peacekeepers stationed there to flee. On the other hand, the few thousand remaining Bosniak soldiers of Srebrenica offered little resistance as their best-trained units had already abandoned the town.[47] To make matters worse, Dutch peacekeepers had confiscated their weapons. When the Bosniaks demanded that their weapons be returned to them, the Dutch refused.[48] As a result, Bosniak troops attempted to block the Dutch withdrawal in the face of the Bosnian Serb onslaught[45] and more than 100 Dutch soldiers were taken hostage by the Bosniaks in a desperate attempt to stop them from leaving.[47] Subsequently, a Dutch peacekeeper was killed after a hand grenade was thrown at his APC by a Bosniak soldier. The Dutch then demanded that NATO bomb Serb positions around the town, but their requests were ignored.[45] With virtually no Bosniak resistance, the VRS relentlessly pounded Srebrenica with artillery on 9 and 10 July.[49] On 11 July, the VRS entered the town.[47] As it did, Mladić had about thirty Dutch soldiers taken hostage.[48] About 3,000-4,000 Bosniak civilians then fled to the UN compound in Potočari where all men between fourteen and seventy were segregated by the VRS, the great bulk of which were trucked to neighboring Serb-held Bratunac. DutchBat personnel who attempted to follow them were seized by the VRS, together with their UN vehicles and some uniforms, weapons and other equipment.[50] Whereas Mladić had expected the ARBiH 28th Division to regroup near Potočari, the men of this division chose instead to flee to Bosnian-held territory. On 12 July the Serbs learned that the majority of the town's men had indeed fled the enclave, with 700–900 fleeing east to Serbia, 300–850 fleeing south to Žepa, and 10,000–15,000 fleeing north to Tuzla. Of these 10,000–15,000, approximately 6,000 were fleeing Bosniak soldiers, of whom 1,000–1,500 were armed. By the time the VRS had been redeployed, about 3,000 soldiers of the column's better-armed vanguard had successfully escaped to Tuzla. The 9,000–12,000 Bosniaks who remained were encircled by VRS units and attacked by artillery, armor and small arms fire. The relatively few who survived the experience recounted how many panic-stricken Bosniak men committed suicide, killed each other in the dark, or drowned while attempting to cross the Jadar river, but by far the greatest portion of the men surrendered, some unwittingly to VRS soldiers equipped with stolen UN vehicles, helmets and uniforms.[51]

Map of Operation Stupčanica 95

At midday on 11 July, Dutch NATO planes arrived from Italy and struck a Bosnian Serb tank,[49] before being forced to cease operations after General Mladić threatened to "destroy" both the Dutch soldiers and the Bosniak population of Srebrenica unless airstrikes were called off.[52] That afternoon, Mladić, accompanied by General Živanović (then Commander of the Drina Corps), General Krstić (then Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of the Drina Corps) and other Bosnian Serb officers, took a triumphant walk through the deserted streets of the town of Srebrenica. The moment was captured on film by Serbian journalist Zoran Petrović Piroćanac.[53] Mladić posed for television cameras, before declaring that Srebrenica had been "returned forever to the Serbs." Later, Thom Karremans, the commander of the Dutch troops in the town, drank a toast with Mladić which was filmed for Serb television. Off-camera, however, Mladić warned Karremans that the UN compound in Potočari, where thousands of Bosniak refugees had gathered, would be shelled by the VRS if NATO planes reappeared.[45]

## Aftermath[edit]

### Srebrenica massacre[edit]

Main article: Srebrenica massacre

Skull of a victim of the July 1995 Srebrenica massacre. Exhumed mass grave outside the village of Potocari, Bosnia and Herzegovina. July 2007.

On 12 July, buses began arriving to take Bosniak women and children to Bosniak-held territory while Dutch troops helped Bosnian Serb forces in separating all men from the ages of 15 to 65. Some of the men were killed or beaten on the spot, while women were raped.[54]

The fall of the town was followed by a massacre of prisoners taken by the VRS forces and civilian refugees who had been handed over to the VRS by Dutchbat troops after they had sought shelter on the Dutchbat base at Potočari. The ICTY Trial Chamber was satisfied that the total number executed was likely to have been within the range of 7,000 to 8,000. The bodies were disposed of in unmarked mass graves which were subsequently reopened and the contents mingled and relocated. The killings and their concealment, carried out in an organised and systematic manner, were subsequently confirmed by the ICTY to have been a crime of genocide pursuant to the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.[55]

For example, on 14 July 1995, prisoners from Bratunac were bussed northward to a school in the village of Pilica, north of Zvornik. As at other detention facilities, there was no food or water and several men died in the school gym from heat and dehydration. The men were held at the Pilica school for two nights. On 16 July 1995, following a now familiar pattern, the men were called out of the school and loaded onto buses with their hands tied behind their backs. They were then driven to the Branjevo Military Farm, where groups of 10 were lined up and shot systematically.[56]

One of the survivors recalled:

> When they opened fire, I threw myself on the ground ... And one man fell on my head. I think that he was killed on the spot. And I could feel the hot blood pouring over me ... I could hear one man crying for help. He was begging them to kill him. And they simply said "Let him suffer. We'll kill him later."

> — Witness Q [56]

Dražen Erdemović – who confessed to killing at least 70 Bosniaks – was a member of the VRS 10th Sabotage Detachment (a Main Staff subordinate unit) and participated in the mass execution. Erdemović appeared as a prosecution witness and testified: "The men in front of us were ordered to turn their backs. When those men turned their backs to us, we shot at them. We were given orders to shoot."[56]

Erdemović said that all but one of the victims wore civilian clothes and that, except for one person who tried to escape, they offered no resistance before being shot. Sometimes the executioners were particularly cruel. When some of the soldiers recognised acquaintances from Srebrenica, they beat and humiliated them before killing them. Erdemović had to persuade his fellow soldiers to stop using a machine gun for the killings; while it mortally wounded the prisoners it did not cause death immediately and prolonged their suffering.[56] Between 1,000 and 1,200 men were killed in the course of that day at this execution site.[56] Aerial photographs, taken on 17 July 1995, of an area around the Branjevo Military Farm, show a large number of bodies lying in the field near the farm, as well as traces of the excavator that collected the bodies from the field.[56] Erdemović testified that, at around 15:00 hours on 16 July 1995, after he and his fellow soldiers from the 10th Sabotage Detachment had finished executing the prisoners at the Branjevo Military Farm, they were told that there was a group of 500 Bosniak prisoners from Srebrenica trying to break out of a nearby Dom Kultura club. Erdemović and the other members of his unit refused to carry out any more killings. They were then told to attend a meeting with a Lieutenant Colonel at a café in Pilica. Erdemović and his fellow-soldiers travelled to the café as requested and, as they waited, they could hear shots and grenades being detonated. The sounds lasted for approximately 15–20 minutes after which a soldier from Bratunac entered the café to inform those present that "everything was over".[56]

There were no survivors to explain exactly what had happened in the Dom Kultura.[56] Over a year later, it was still possible to find physical evidence of this atrocity. As in Kravica, many traces of blood, hair and body tissue were found in the building, with cartridges and shells littered throughout the two storeys.[56] It could also be established that explosives and machine guns had been used. Human remains and personal possessions were found under the stage, where blood had dripped down through the floorboards.

Čančari Road 12 was the site of the re-interment of at least 174 bodies, moved here from the mass grave at the Branjevo Military Farm.[56] Only 43 were complete sets of remains, most of which established that death had taken place as there result of rifle fire. Of the 313 various body parts found, 145 displayed gunshot wounds of a severity likely to prove fatal.[57]

### Casualties[edit]

After the Bosnian War, the Bosnian Book of the Dead documented 9,377 violent deaths amongst citizens of Srebrenica municipality (combatants and civilians) of all ethnicities that occurred in the Srebrenica municipality from 1992 to 1995.[58] The RDC established that at least 5,233 Bosnian-Muslim civilians were killed in Srebrenica during the war.[23] Most estimates put the number of Bosniak men and boys killed in the July 1995 massacre at more than 8,000;[54] the list of Bosniaks killed during this period compiled by the Bosnian Federal Commission of Missing Persons contains 8,372 names.[5] In 2003, Serbs comprised 95 percent of the population of the Srebrenica municipality.[59]

The Bosnian Book of the Dead, Part I, page 173-174 clarifies:

"In 1995, 9,726 persons were killed, out of which 9,022 Bosniaks, and of that number, 8,594 were killed in July 1995. According to the data we have compiled, in the period from 11 July 1995 until 31 July 1995, which can be related to the fall of the UN Safe Zone of Srebrenica and the mass killings of civilians and prisoners of war, that occurred after the fall of Srebrenica, 8,331 persons were killed in total. Of those, 5,113 were from Srebrenica, 1,766 from Bratunac, 900 from Vlasenica, 437 from Zvornik and 115 from Rogatica/Žepa. Out of these 8,372 persons, 1,416 were soldiers."[60]

### Indictments and trials[edit]

See also: List of Bosnian genocide prosecutions

At his trial, VRS General Radislav Krstić was found by the ICTY to have been the person primarily directing Krivaja '95 from 6 July onward, at least until the arrival of Ratko Mladić on 9 July. The ICTY determined that the initial objective of Krivaja '95 had been to "reduce the United Nations-protected safe area of Srebrenica to its urban core" as a step towards "the larger VRS goal of plunging the Bosniak population into a humanitarian crisis and, ultimately, eliminating the enclave", and that after the surrounding area had fallen the VRS forces were then ordered to take the town itself. The ICTY found Krstić guilty of participating in two criminal plans, initially to ethnically cleanse the Srebrenica enclave of all Bosniak civilians and later to kill the military-aged men of Srebrenica. He was found guilty of murder, persecutions and aiding and abetting genocide.[55]

On 31 May 2007, Zdravko Tolimir, a long-time fugitive and a former general in the VRS indicted by the Prosecutor of the ICTY on genocide charges relating to Srebrenica was arrested.[61] On 12 December 2012, Tolimir was convicted of genocide and sentenced to life imprisonment.[62] In May 2011, VRS General Ratko Mladić was arrested in a village in northern Serbia by three special units of the Serbian security forces.[63] The next year, his trial began before the ICTY in The Hague on charges relating to his participation as VRS commander in the criminal conspiracy to perpetrate the Srebrenica genocide.[64]

In 2010, seven high level VRS commanders were convicted of various crimes related to the genocide in Srebrenica including, Ljubiša Beara, and Vujadin Popovic who were found guilty of Conspiracy to commit, and Committing Genocide. Dragan Nikolic, was found guilty of Aiding and Abetting Genocide. Former Presideny of Serbia Slobodan Milosevic was also charged with genocide in a number of Bosnian municipalities including Srebrenica.

Commander Naser Orić, pictured here in 2007, led Bosniak forces in the enclave of Srebrenica from 1992 to 1995

In 2016, Radovan Karadžić was found guilty by the ICTY for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in the Srebrenica enclave, and sentenced to 40 years in prison.[65]

Momir Nikolić, who served as Assistant Chief of Security and Intelligence for the Bratunac Brigade, Drina Corp of the VRS, pleaded guilty for crimes against humanity in front of the ICTY and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Together with another former VRS soldier who pleaded guilty, Dražen Erdemović, he testified in front of the ICTY against Karadžić, Mladić and Beara, providing valuable information about the execution and timeline of the massacre.[66]

Finally, on 22 November 2017, general Ratko Mladić was sentenced to a life in prison.[67][68]

Bosniak commander Naser Orić was arrested by SFOR in April 2003, and handed over to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), who indicted him for the "murder and cruel treatment" of Bosnian Serb prisoners, as well as burning and plundering about fifty Serb villages from 1992 to 1995.[69] In 2006, Orić was found guilty of failing to prevent the mistreatment of VRS prisoners held in Srebrenica between September 1992 and March 1993. But the former Bosniak military commander was acquitted of all other charges, including direct involvement in the killings and responsibility for the "wanton destruction" of Serb homes and property as the ICTY could not establish that Orić himself exercised sufficient control over the raids to justify convicting him of command responsibility for the atrocities.[15][70] He was sentenced to two years in jail, but was freed immediately as he had already spent three years behind bars.[70] Orić's two-year conviction was also subsequently overturned in July 2008 by the appeals chamber which ruled that "the legal requirements to prove Orić's criminal responsibility had not been met."[71]

## Notes[edit]

1. ^ Research and Documentation Center, "Human Losses in Bosnia-Herzegovina 1991-1995 Part I, pp. 173–174. | http://www.mnemos.ba/en/home/Download
2. ^ a b c d e Alvarez 2010, p. 141.
3. ^ a b c Klip & Sluiter 2005, p. 601.
4. ^ Nalepa 2012, p. 334.
5. ^ a b c Mojzes 2011, p. 178.
6. ^ a b Ramet 2006, p. 382.
7. ^ a b Ramet 2006, p. 428.
8. ^ Ramet 2006, p. 427.
9. ^ Ramet 2006, p. 429.
10. ^ Ramet 2006, p. 433.
11. ^ Hoare 2010, p. 125.
12. ^ Leydesdorff 2011, p. xi.
13. ^ Nowak 1998, p. 107.
14. ^ a b Yamashita 2004, p. 87.
15. ^ a b c Ingrao 2012, p. 217.
16. ^ Proctor & Smith 2013, p. 125.
17. ^ Acquaviva et al. 2011, p. 206.
18. ^ a b c ICTY & 30 June 2006, p. 39.
19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Ingrao 2012, p. 218.
20. ^ Wagner 2008, p. 29.
21. ^ a b Acquaviva et al. 2011, p. 218.
22. ^ a b Ingrao 2012, pp. 217–218.
23. ^ a b RDC 2013.
24. ^ "The Myth of Bratunac: A Blatant Numbers Game". Research and Documentation Center. Archived from the original on 8 May 2009. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
25. ^ Ingrao 2012, p. 128.
26. ^ Shawcross 2002, p. 97.
27. ^ Burg & Shoup 1999, p. 179.
28. ^ Mojzes 2011, p. 180.
29. ^ Nettelfield 2010, p. 78.
30. ^ Yamashita 2004, p. 88.
31. ^ a b c Mojzes 2011, p. 179.
32. ^ a b Rohde 1998, p. 46.
33. ^ Nettelfield 2010, p. 80.
34. ^ Ingrao 2012, p. 216.
35. ^ Ingrao 2012, pp. 216–217.
36. ^ Nettelfield 2010, p. 79.
37. ^ a b c Schindler 2007, p. 229.
38. ^ a b c Heidenrich 2001, p. 170.
39. ^ Schindler 2007, p. 223.
40. ^ CIA 2002, p. 331.
41. ^ CIA 2002, p. 352.
42. ^ Smith & 5 January 2003.
43. ^ Ingrao 2013, p. 218. sfn error: no target: CITEREFIngrao2013 (help)
44. ^ CIA 2002, p. 321.
45. ^ a b c d e f Naimark 2011, p. 3.
46. ^ CNN & 11 July 1995.
47. ^ a b c Ingrao 2012, p. 219.
48. ^ a b BBC & 17 May 2012.
49. ^ a b Naimark 2011, p. 4.
50. ^ Ingrao 2012, pp. 219–220.
51. ^ Ingrao 2012, pp. 220–221.
52. ^ Mojzes 2011, p. 181.
53. ^ Dobbs & 24 January 2012.
54. ^ a b Naimark 2011, p. 6.
55. ^ a b ICTY & Radislav Krstić CIS.
56. ^ a b c d e f g h i j ICTY & 2 August 2001.
57. ^ Manning & 16 May 2000, pp. 18–21. sfn error: no target: CITEREFManning16_May_2000 (help)
58. ^ Nalepa 2012, p. 336.
59. ^ Bideleux & Jeffries 2006, pp. 387–388.
60. ^ Research and Documentation Center, "Human Losses in Bosnia-Herzegovina 1991-1995 | http://www.mnemos.ba/en/home/Download
61. ^ VOA & 1 June 2007.
62. ^ BBC & 12 December 2012.
63. ^ BBC & 26 May 2011.
64. ^ ICTY & 16 December 2011.
65. ^ The Hindu & 24 March 2016.
66. ^ Sense Agency & 13 February 2012.
67. ^ "UN hails conviction of Mladic, the 'epitome of evil,' a momentous victory for justice". UN News Centre. 22 November 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
68. ^ Owen Bowcott, Julian Borger (22 November 2017). "Ratko Mladić convicted of war crimes and genocide at UN tribunal". The Guardian. Event occurs at 11:00. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
69. ^ Bideleux & Jeffries 2006, p. 387.
70. ^ a b BBC & 30 June 2006.
71. ^ SE Times & 4 July 2008.

## References[edit]

Books

* Acquaviva, Guido; Whiting, Alex; Cassese, Antonio; Fan, Mary (2011). International Criminal Law: Cases and Commentary. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-957678-4.
* Alvarez, Alex (2010). Genocidal Crimes. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-92665-9.
* Bideleux, Robert; Jeffries, Ian (2006). The Balkans: A Post-Communist History. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-96911-3.
* Burg, Steven L.; Shoup, Paul S. (1999). The War in Bosnia-Herzegovina: Ethnic Conflict and International Intervention. Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 978-0-7656-3189-3.
* Central Intelligence Agency (2002). Balkan Battlegrounds: A Military History of the Yugoslav Conflict, 1990–1995. Washington, D.C.: Office of Russian and European Analysis. ISBN 978-0-16-066472-4. OCLC 50396958.
* Heidenrich, John G. (2001). How to Prevent Genocide: A Guide for Policymakers, Scholars, and the Concerned Citizen. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing. ISBN 0-275-96987-8.
* Hoare, Marko Attila (2010). Ramet, Sabrina P. (ed.). Central and Southeast European Politics Since 1989. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-71616-1.
* Ingrao, Charles (2012). Confronting the Yugoslav Controversies: A Scholars' Initiative. West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue University Press. ISBN 978-1-55753-617-4.
* Klip, André; Sluiter, Göran (2005). The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia 2001. Cambridge: Intersentia. ISBN 978-90-5095-375-7.
* Leydesdorff, Selma (2011). Surviving the Bosnian Genocide: The Women of Srebrenica Speak. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-35669-7.
* Mojzes, Paul (2011). Balkan Genocides: Holocaust and Ethnic Cleansing in the 20th Century. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-0665-6.
* Naimark, Norman M. (2011). "Srebrenica in the History of Genocide: A Prologue". In Adler, Nanci Dale; Leydesdorff, Selma; Chamberlain, Mary; et al. (eds.). Memories of Mass Repression: Narrating Life Stories in the Aftermath of Atrocity. Piscataway, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4128-1204-7.
* Nalepa, Monika (2012). "Reconciliation, Refugee Returns, and the Impact of International Justice: The Case of Bosnia and Herzegovina". In Williams, Melissa S.; Nagy, Rosemary; Elster, Jon (eds.). Transitional Justice. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-0497-4.
* Nettelfield, Lara J. (2010). Courting Democracy in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-76380-6.
* Nowak, Manfred (1998). Post-War Protection of Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. ISBN 978-90-411-1020-6.
* Proctor, James D.; Smith, David M. (2013). Geography and Ethics: Journeys in a Moral Terrain. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-18969-9.
* Ramet, Sabrina P. (2006). The Three Yugoslavias: State-Building and Legitimation, 1918–2005. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34656-8.
* Rohde, David (1998). Endgame: The Betrayal and Fall of Srebrenica, Europe's Worst Massacre Since World War II. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. ISBN 978-0-8133-3533-9.
* Schindler, John R. (2007). Unholy Terror: Bosnia, Al-Qa'ida, and the Rise of Global Jihad. Zenith Press. ISBN 978-1-61673-964-5.
* Shawcross, William (2002). Deliver Us From Evil: Peacekeepers, Warlords and a World of Endless Conflict. New York, New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-74322-577-9.
* Wagner, Sarah E. (2008). To Know Where He Lies: DNA Technology and the Search for Srebrenica's Missing. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-25575-3.
* Yamashita, Hikaru (2004). Humanitarian Space and International Politics: The Creation of Safe Areas. Aldershot, England: Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7546-4163-6.

News articles

* "Bosnian Muslim guilty but freed". BBC. 30 June 2006.
* "Ratko Mladic arrested: Bosnia war crimes suspect held". BBC. 26 May 2011.
* "Timeline: Siege of Srebrenica". BBC. 17 May 2012.
* "Bosnian Serb Zdravko Tolimir convicted over Srebrenica". BBC. 12 December 2012.
* "1,500 Bosnian Serb troops overran the enclave of Srebrenica". CNN. 11 July 1995.
* "Radovan Karadzic sentenced to 40-year imprisonment for Srebrenica genocide, war crimes". The Hindu. 24 March 2016.
* Dobbs, Michael (24 January 2012). "What did we know— and when did we know it?". Foreign Policy.
* "Serbs angered by ICTY overturn of Oric conviction". SE Times. 4 July 2008.
* Smith, Helena (5 January 2003). "Greece faces shame of role in Serb massacre". The Guardian.
* "Bosnian Serb War Crimes Fugitive on His Way to the Hague". VOA. 1 June 2007.

ICTY documents

* Manning, Dean (16 May 2000). "Srebrenica Investigation: Summary of Forensic Evidence – Execution Points and Mass Graves" (PDF). International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 March 2011.
* "Prosecutor v. Ratko Mladić (Fourth Amended Indictment)" (PDF). International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. 16 December 2011. IT-09-92-PT.
* "Prosecutor v. Naser Orić (Trial Judgment)" (PDF). International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. 30 June 2006. IT-03-68-T.
* "Prosecutor v. Radislav Krstić (Trial Judgment)" (PDF). International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. 2 August 2001. IT-98-33-T.
* "Radislav Krstić – Case Information Sheet" (PDF). International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. IT-98-33.

Other documents and sources

* RDC (2013). "Pojedinačan popis broja ratnih žrtava u svim općinama BiH". Prometej.ba. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
* Sense Agency (13 February 2012). "Momir Nikolić: How 'Evil' in Srebrenica was Prepared". Retrieved 26 August 2017.

* v
* t
* e

Bosnian War

Part of the Yugoslav Wars

Belligerents|

|  Bosniak side|

* Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* 1st Corps
* 2nd Corps
* 3rd Corps
* 4th Corps
* 5th Corps
* 6th Corps
* 7th Corps
* Paramilitary
* Patriotic League
* Green Berets
* Croatian Defence Forces
* Bosnian mujahideen

|

Croat side|

* Croatian Defence Council
* 1OZ
* 2OZ
* 3OZ
* 4OZ
* Paramilitary
* Croatian Defence Forces
* Knights

Serb side|

* Army of Republika Srpska
* 1st Krajina Corps
* 2nd Krajina Corps
* 3rd Corps
* East Bosnia Corps
* Herzegovina Corps
* Sarajevo-Romanija Corps
* Drina Corps
* Paramilitary
* Wolves of Vučjak
* White Eagles
* Serb Volunteer Guard
* Scorpions
* Yellow Wasps

Western Bosnian side|

* National Defence of the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia

Prelude|

* Milošević–Tuđman Karađorđevo meeting
* Zulfikarpašić–Karadžić agreement
* RAM Plan
* Serb Autonomous Regions
* Bosanska Krajina
* Herzegovina
* North-East Bosnia
* Romanija
* Establishment of the Croatian Community of Herzeg Bosnia
* Establishment of Republika Srpska
* Bosnia and Herzegovina independence referendum
* Sarajevo wedding attack
* Declaration of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Battle of Bosanski Brod
* Sijekovac killings
* Bijeljina massacre
* 1992 anti-war protests in Sarajevo

1992|

* Battle of Kupres
* Siege of Sarajevo
* Kazani pit killings
* Foča ethnic cleansing
* Bosanski Šamac ethnic cleansing
* Siege of Srebrenica
* Zvornik massacre
* Doboj
* Snagovo massacre
* Prijedor ethnic cleansing
* Sarajevo column incident
* Siege of Goražde
* Graz agreement
* Glogova massacre
* Lašva Valley ethnic cleansing
* Tuzla column incident
* Zaklopača massacre
* Siege of Doboj
* Bradina massacre
* Bijeli Potok massacre
* Pionirska Street fire
* Operation Jackal
* Višegrad massacres
* Bosanska Jagodina
* Paklenik
* Barimo
* Sjeverin
* Čemerno massacre
* Siege of Bihać
* Ahatovići massacre
* Croat–Bosniak War
* Operation Vrbas '92
* Operation Corridor 92
* Bikavac fire
* Killings in Bratunac and Srebrenica
* Agreement on Friendship and Cooperation between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia
* Korićani Cliffs massacre
* Mičivode massacre
* Novoseoci massacre
* Gornja Jošanica massacre

1993|

* Kravica attack
* Duša killings
* Skelani massacre
* Štrpci
* Siege of Mostar
* Srebrenica shelling
* Ahmići massacre
* Trusina massacre
* Sovići and Doljani killings
* Zenica massacre
* Vranica case
* Dobrinja mortar attack
* Battle of Žepče
* Battle of Travnik (1993)
* Battle of Bugojno
* Operation Irma
* Operation Neretva '93
* Grabovica massacre
* Mokronoge massacre
* Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia
* Inter-Bosniak conflict in Bosanska Krajina
* Stupni Do massacre
* Operation Deny Flight
* Križančevo Selo killings

1994|

* Operation Tvigi 94
* First Markale massacre
* Banja Luka incident
* Washington Agreement
* Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Operation Bøllebank
* Attack on Spin magazine journalists
* Operation Tiger
* Operation "Breza '94"
* Battle of Kupres
* Operation Amanda
* Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 347
* Operation Spider
* Operation Winter '94

1995|

* Operation Vlašić
* Operation Leap 1
* Battle of Orašje
* Operation Leap 2
* Split Agreement
* Operation Summer '95
* Pale air strikes
* Tuzla shelling
* Battle of Vrbanja Bridge
* Srebrenica massacre
* Kravica
* Battle of Vozuća
* Operation Miracle
* Operation Storm
* Second Markale massacre
* NATO bombing campaign
* Operation Mistral 2
* Operation Sana
* Operation Una
* Operation Southern Move
* Exodus of Sarajevo Serbs
* Dayton Agreement
* Bosnia and Herzegovina

Internment camps|

* Silos
* Manjača
* Liplje
* Luka
* Vilina Vlas
* Omarska
* Keraterm
* Trnopolje
* Sušica
* Čelebići
* Musala
* Batković
* Dretelj
* Uzamnica
* Heliodrom
* Gabela
* Vojno
* Kamenica camp

Aspects|

* Ethnic cleansing and massacres
* Bosnian genocide
* Bosnian genocide denial
* Internment camps
* Rape
* Peace plans
* NATO intervention
* Foreign support
* Foreign fighters

Timeline of the Bosnian War (Timeline of the Croat–Bosniak War)

* Category
* Commons

* v
* t
* e

Wars and battles involving Serbs

Medieval|

| Serbian–Bulgarian|

* Bulgar–Serb War (839–842)
* Bulgar–Serb War (853)
* Bulgarian–Serbian wars of 917–924
* Bulgarian–Serbian border revolt
* Bulgarian-Serb War (998)
* Bulgarian-Serbian War (1202)
* Bulgarian-Serbian War (1203)
* Bulgarian-Serbian War (1290)
* Bulgarian-Serbian War (1291)
* Bulgarian-Serbian War (1330)
* Battle of Velbazhd

|

Serbian–Ottoman|

* Early skirmishes
* Battle of Gallipoli
* Battle of Stephaniana
* Battle of Demotika in 1352
* Battle of Sırp Sındığı in 1364
* Fall of the Serbian Empire
* Battle of Maritsa in 1371
* Battle of Dubravnica in 1381
* Battle of Savra in 1385
* Battle of Pločnik in 1386
* Battle of Kosovo in 1389
* Serbian Despotate
* Battle of Karanovasa
* Battle of Tripolje in 1402
* Siege of Novo Brdo in 1412
* Battle of Vitosha Pass in 1413
* Battle of Carmorlu
* First Scutari War
* Second Scutari War
* Ottoman invasion of Serbia in 1425
* Ottoman invasion of Serbia in 1427
* Ottoman invasion of Serbia in 1437
* Battle of Trnava (1430)
* Ottoman invasion of Serbia in 1438
* Ottoman invasion of Serbia (1439–1444)
* Crusade of Varna
* Battle of Nish (1443)
* Battle of Zlatitsa in 1443
* Battle of Kunovica in 1444
* Ottoman invasion of Serbia (1454–1455)
* Battle of Kruševac in 1454
* Battle of Leskovac in 1454
* Ottoman invasion of Serbia in 1456
* Siege of Belgrade
* Siege of Smederevo
* Ottoman invasion and conquest of Serbia in 1459
* Battle of Breadfield in 1479
* Ottoman conquest of Zeta in 1499

Serbian–Byzantine|

* Serb Uprising of 1038–1042
* Battle of Bar
* Slav Uprising in Pomoravlje
* Battle of Zvečan (1094)
* Battle of Haram
* Siege of Ras (1127)
* Battle of Tara (1150)
* Byzantine–Hungarian War (1149–1155)
* Siege of Braničevo (1154)
* Battle of Pantina
* Byzantine–Hungarian War (1127–1129)
* Byzantine civil war of 1321–1328
* Serbian invasion of Macedonia led by Syrgiannes Palaiologos (1334)
* Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347

Other|

* Hungarian invasions of Europe
* Magyar–Serb conflict
* Byzantine–Hungarian War (1127–1129)
* Battle of Sirmium
* Battle of Gacko
* Serbian conflict with the Nogai Horde
* Mongol invasion of Bulgaria and Serbia
* Mačva War
* Hungarian–Serbian War (1321-1324)
* War of Hum (1326–1329)
* Serbian civil war of 1331
* Serbian nobility conflict (1369)
* Battle of Rovine
* Battle of Nicopolis
* Battle of Ankara
* Battle of Kosmidion
* Battle of Çamurlu
* Battle of Despotovac
* Siege of Belgrade (1440)
* Battle of Kosovo (1448)
* Fall of Constantinople

Foreign rule|

| Habsburgs|

* Jovan Nenad's uprising
* Hungarian campaign of 1527–1528
* Battle of Szőlős
* Battle of Sződfalva
* Battle of Keresztes
* Great Turkish War
* Siege of Belgrade (1688)
* Battle of Batočina
* Battle of Niš (1689)
* Siege of Belgrade (1690)
* Battle of Lugos
* Rákóczi's War of Independence
* Battle of Saint Gotthard (1705)
* Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718)
* Siege of Belgrade (1717)
* Russo-Turkish War (1735–1739)
* Battle of Zsibó
* Battle of Trenčín
* Battle of Petrovaradin
* Battle of Banja Luka
* Austro-Turkish War (1788–1791)

|

Ottomans|

* Long War (Ottoman wars) (1593–1606)
* Banat Uprising (1594)
* Serb Uprising of 1596–1597
* Battle of Mohács (1687)
* Uprising in Vučitrn
* Serb uprising of 1737–1739
* Kočina Krajina Serb rebellion
* Battle of Martinići (1796)
* Battle of Krusi
* Battle of Lopate

Venice|

* Morean War
* Cretan War (1645–1669)
* Great Turkish War
* Battle on Vrtijeljka
* Battle of Slankamen
* Battle of Senta

Russia|

* Serbian Hussar Regiment
* Pruth River Campaign
* War of the Polish Succession
* Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743)
* Seven Years' War

19th century|

| Serbian Revolution|

* First Serbian Uprising
* Vračar
* Rudnik
* Svileuva
* Batočina and Jagodina
* Kragujevac
* Drlupa
* Čokešina
* Šabac
* Požarevac
* Karanovac
* Adakale
* Ivankovac
* Rudnik
* Vrbica
* Mišar
* Deligrad
* Belgrade (1806)
* Liberation of Belgrade
* Loznica
* Malajnica and Štubik
* Čegar
* Jasika
* Prahovo
* Suvodol
* Drina
* Varvarin
* Loznica
* Mačva
* Ravnje
* Hadži Prodan's Revolt
* Second Serbian Uprising
* Ljubić
* Čačak
* Palež
* Požarevac
* Rudnik
* Družetić
* Kragujevac
* Jagodina
* Karanovac
* Batočina
* Užice
* Valjevo
* Batočina

|

Ottoman|

* Montenegrin–Ottoman War (1852–1853)
* Battle of Grahovac
* Battle of Kolašin
* Montenegrin–Ottoman War (1861–1862)
* Montenegrin–Ottoman War (1876–1878)
* Battle of Vučji Do
* Battle of Fundina
* Battles for Plav and Gusinje
* Velika attacks
* Battle of Novšiće
* Battle of Murino

Other|

* Kumanovo uprising
* Adriatic campaign of 1807–1814
* Jančić's rebellion
* Priest Jovica's Rebellion
* Several battles of Hungarian Revolution of 1848
* Battle of Vršac (1849)
* Serbian-Turkish Wars (1876–1878)
* Battle of Vranje
* Siege of Cattaro
* Herzegovina uprising (1852–1862)
* Krivošije uprising (1869)
* Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)
* AU-BiH War
* Battle of Jajce (1878)
* Battle of Vitez (1878)
* Battle of Sarajevo (1878)
* Serbo-Bulgarian War
* Battle of Pirot
* Battle of Slivnitsa

20th century|

| Macedonian Struggle|

* Fight on Šuplji Kamen
* Fight on Čelopek
* Fight in Tabanovce
* Fight in Velika Hoča
* Fight on Čelopek (1906)
* Battle of Pirot (1913)

|

Balkan Wars|

* First Balkan War
* Battle of Kumanovo
* Battle of Prilep
* Battle of Monastir
* Siege of Scutari
* Siege of Adrianople
* Siege of Odrin (1912–1913)
* Second Balkan War
* Battle of Bregalnica
* Battle of Kalimanci
* Battle of Knjaževac
* Siege of Vidin (1913)
* Ohrid–Debar uprising

World War I|

* Montenegrin campaign
* Battle of Mojkovac
* Serbian campaign
* Battle of Cer
* Battle of the Crna Bend (1916)
* Battle of Bazargic
* Battle of Dobro Pole
* Battle of the Drina
* Battle of Florina
* Battle of Kaymakchalan
* Battle of Kolubara
* Kosovo offensive (1915)
* Liberation of Serbia, Albania and Montenegro (1918)
* Battle of Malka Nidzhe
* Macedonian front
* Monastir offensive
* Morava Offensive
* Ovče Pole Offensive
* Vardar offensive
* Srem Offensive
* Toplica Uprising

Interwar|

* Carinthia War
* Uprising in Drenica
* Christmas Uprising
* Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War
* Albanian-Yugoslav Border War (1921)
* Drenica-Junik Uprising

World War II|

* Invasion of Yugoslavia
* Uprising in Serbia (1941)
* Uprising in Montenegro (1941)
* June 1941 uprising in eastern Herzegovina
* Battle of Novi Pazar
* Battle of Pljevlja
* Battle of Kozara
* Battle of Loznica (1941)
* Battle of Livno
* Battle of Neretva
* Battle of the Sutjeska
* Raid on Drvar
* Battle of Knin
* Battle of Mostar
* Battle of Lijevče Field
* 1942 Montenegro offensive
* Bihać Operation
* Battle of Batina
* Belgrade Offensive
* Capture of Banja Koviljača
* Case Black
* Case White
* Operation Draufgänger
* Kozara Offensive
* Battle of Kupres (1942)
* Battle of Višegrad
* Mostar operation
* Nagykanizsa–Körmend Offensive
* Niš operation
* Battle of Odžak
* Capture of Olovo (1941)
* Operation Alfa
* Operation Delphin
* Operation Kopaonik
* Operation Kugelblitz
* Operation Mihailovic
* Operation Southeast Croatia
* Operation Trio
* Operation Uzice
* Battle of Poljana
* Operation Prijedor
* Siege of Rogatica (1941)
* Operation Rösselsprung (1944)
* Kosovo Operation (1944)
* Operation Spring Awakening
* Srb uprising
* Stratsin-Kumanovo operation
* Syrmian Front
* Battle of Zvornik
* Battle of Sarajevo (1945)
* Battle of Zelengora

Croatian War|

* Pakrac clash
* Plitvice Lakes incident
* Battle of Borovo Selo
* Operation Stinger
* 1991 Yugoslav campaign in Croatia
* Battle of Osijek
* Battle of Vukovar
* Battle of Gospić
* Battle of Šibenik
* Battle of Zadar
* Battle of Kusonje
* Battle of the Barracks
* Siege of Varaždin Barracks
* Siege of Bjelovar Barracks
* Battle of the Dalmatian Channels
* Siege of Dubrovnik
* Operation Otkos 10
* Operation Orkan 91
* Operation Whirlwind
* Operation Baranja
* Operation Jackal
* Battle of the Miljevci Plateau
* Operation Tiger
* Operation Maslenica
* Operation Medak Pocket
* Operation Winter '94
* Operation Flash
* Operation Summer '95
* Operation Storm

Bosnian War|

* Battle of Bosanski Brod
* Battle of Kupres
* Siege of Sarajevo
* Siege of Srebrenica
* Siege of Goražde
* Siege of Doboj
* Operation Jackal
* Siege of Bihać (1992–95)
* Operation Vrbas '92
* Operation Corridor 92
* Operation Bura
* Kravica attack
* Siege of Mostar
* Operation Irma
* Operation Bøllebank
* Operation Tiger
* Battle of Kupres
* Operation Amanda
* Operation Spider
* Operation Winter '94
* Battle of Vlašić
* Operation Leap 1
* Battle of Orašje
* Operation Leap 2
* Operation Summer '95
* Battle of Vrbanja Bridge
* Battle of Vozuća
* Operation Miracle
* Operation Mistral 2
* Operation Sana
* Operation Una
* Operation Southern Move
* NATO intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina
* 1995 Pale air strikes
* Operation Deny Flight
* Operation Deliberate Force
* Operation Maritime Monitor

Kosovo War|

* Insurgency in Kosovo
* Albanian–Yugoslav border incident (December 1998)
* Albania–Yugoslav border incident (April 1999)
* April 23, 1998, Albanian–Yugoslav border ambush
* Attack on Orahovac
* Attack on Prekaz
* Battle of Lođa
* Battle of Oraovica
* Battle of Belaćevac Mine
* Battle of Podujevo
* December 14, 1998, Albanian–Yugoslav border ambush
* Battle of Glođane
* July 18, 1998, Albanian–Yugoslav border clashes
* Battle of Junik
* Battle of Košare
* Insurgency in the Preševo Valley
* Prizren incident (1999)
* NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
* Dubrava Prison bombings and executions
* 1999 F-117A shootdown

21st century|

| Peacekeeping|

* Central African Republic
* Cyprus
* DR Congo
* Ivory Coast
* Lebanon
* Liberia
* Mali
* Somalia

|

Authority control databases

National|

* France
* BnF data

Other|

* IdRef

*[WIA]: Wounded in action
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