1995 NATO bombing in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Operation Deliberate Force
partof=Bosnian War


caption=A US Air Force F-16C Fighting Falcon aircraft returns from a mission in support of NATO airstrikes against Republika Srpska from Aviano AB, Italy.
date=30 August - 20 September 1995
place=Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina
casus=The shelling of the Sarajevo market place on 28 August 1995 by the Bosnian Serb Army. [ [http://www.afsouth.nato.int/factsheets/DeliberateForceFactSheet.htm NATO Allied Forces (Southern Europe) Factsheet] ]
territory=
result=Siege of Sarajevo lifted.
combatant1=NATO
combatant2=flag|Republika Srpska
commander1=flagicon|Belgium Willy Claes
commander2=flagicon|Republika Srpska Ratko Mladić
strength1=
strength2=2 SAMsfact|date=September 2007
casualties1=1 Mirage aircraft
2 pilots POW
casualties2=Undisclosed
notes=The 1995 NATO bombing in Bosnia and Herzegovina (code-named by NATO "Operation Deliberate Force") was a sustained air campaign conducted by the North-Atlantic military organization to undermine the military capability of the Bosnian Serb Army who threatened and attacked UN-designated "safe areas" in Bosnia. The operation was carried out between 30 August and 20 September 1995, involving 400 aircraft and 5000 personnel from 15 nations.

Although planned and approved by the North Atlantic Council in July 1995, the operation was triggered in direct response to the second wave of Markale Massacres on 28 August 1995.

During the campaign, a total of 3515 sorties were flown against 338 individual targets. Aircraft involved in the campaign operated out of Italy and from the U.S. aircraft carriers USS "Theodore Roosevelt" & USS "America". 68% of the bombs used in this campaign were precision-guided munitions. The Bosnian Serb integrated air defence network, comprising of aircraft and surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), presented a high-threat environment to the allied air operations. A French Mirage 2000 was shot down by a Serbian SAM on 30 August 1995.As a counter to the operation some 400 UNPROFOR peacekeepers were seized by the Bosnian Serb Army and used as human shields at key Bosnian Serb sites.

The air attacks increased the international pressure on Milošević’s Serbia/Yugoslavia to take part in negotiations that resulted in the Dayton Peace Agreement.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/Bosnia/updates/sep95/9-12/carrier/index.html CNN]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,983401-1,00.html LOUDER THAN WORDS] , "TIME magazine", 11 September 1995
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/deliberate_force.htm Operation Deliberate Force] by John Pike at Globalsecurity.org
* [http://www.afsouth.nato.int/factsheets/DeliberateForceFactSheet.htm Official Deliberate Force FactSheet] , from NATO’s website