Fierce Fighting Rages in Bihac as NATO Debate Continues

Strategic Insights -

Fierce fighting escalated today in the Muslim enclave of Bihac in northwestern Bosnia, as Serbian forces advanced towards the town center and NATO allies failed to agree on how to save it. The situation on the ground is dire, with hundreds of United Nations peacekeepers and observers being held hostage by the Serbs, who are using them as bargaining chips to deter NATO air strikes. Despite the gravity of the situation, NATO envoys failed to agree on a plan to stop the Serbian offensive, with some arguing that the alliance should use more extensive force against the Serbs, while others prefer to settle for inconclusive arrangements.

Key Takeaways:

  • Fierce fighting raged in Bihac today, with Serb forces advancing towards the town center and NATO allies failing to agree on a plan to stop them.
  • Hundreds of United Nations peacekeepers and observers are being held hostage by the Serbs, who are using them as bargaining chips to deter NATO air strikes.
  • NATO envoys failed to agree on a plan to stop the Serbian offensive, with some arguing that the alliance should use more extensive force against the Serbs, while others prefer to settle for inconclusive arrangements.
  • The United Nations commander in Bosnia, Lieut. Gen. Sir Michael Rose, said that the peacekeepers were not facing harsh conditions and were being detained mainly as bargaining chips.
  • The Bosnian Prime Minister, Haris Silajdzic, appealed to NATO to act immediately to stop the attacks, but a ceasefire in Bihac seems remote.
  • General Rose went to Pale today for talks with Bosnian Serb leaders, despite the fact that Bosnian Serb forces were effectively holding over 250 United Nations peacekeepers hostage.
  • The Serbs have immobilized about 200 United Nations troops and observers around Sarajevo and detained about 50 Canadian troops north of the capital.
  • The United Nations has decreed a weapons-exclusion zone with a 12-mile radius around Sarajevo, but the nationalist Serbs' artillery and tanks remain in the area.
  • The Clinton Administration is arguing that NATO should use wide-ranging air attacks against the Bosnian Serbs, including targets outside the Bihac area.

Statistics:

  • 200 United Nations peacekeepers and observers are being held hostage by the Serbs.
  • 50 Canadian troops are detained north of the capital.
  • 100 tons of food were allowed to pass into the Bihac pocket today by the Croatian Serbs.
  • 180,000 people in the Bihac area remain under dire conditions.
  • 15,000 men under arms make up the V Corps of the Bosnian Army in Bihac.
  • 10,000 Bosnian Serb civilians were displaced by the Bosnian Government's offensive eastward.

Sources:

  • The New York Times, November 21, 1994, p. A16.
  • Agence France-Presse, November 21, 1994, p. A16.
  • The New York Times, November 21, 1994, p. A16. (map of Bosnia and Herzegovina).