United Nations Threatens Air Strikes in Bosnia as Violence Escalates

The United Nations has warned of imminent air strikes in Bosnia after the Bosnian Government's successful week-long offensive was met with ferocious shelling of towns, including Sarajevo, by Bosnian Serb forces. International diplomats are pleading for peace as the situation spirals out of control, with the UN's Colum Murphy stating that "events are spinning out of control" and the deliberate targeting of civilians would "meet a resolute response from us, including the use of air power."

Key Takeaways:

• The Bosnian Government has seized approximately 35 square miles of territory from the Serbs in recent fighting, including a crucial communications tower in central Bosnia.
• The advance has caused the flight of several thousand Serbian refugees, further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.
• The UN and NATO have pledged to work together to protect six Bosnian Government-held areas in Bosnia, but no request for air strikes has been made.
• Western pressure to use NATO air power has evaporated, with the US and other European nations calling for a political solution to the conflict.
• The Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic, has rejected the proposed map that would oblige the Serbs to give up a third of their territory and accept a Muslim-Croatian federation.
• The German Foreign Minister, Klaus Kinkel, has called on the Bosnian President, Alija Izetbegovic, to stop the fighting, warning that military campaigns will only sharpen the conflict.

Statistics:

• 35 square miles of territory seized by the Bosnian Government from the Serbs in recent fighting.
• 25 Swedish soldiers trapped at two observation posts in the Tuzla area since the attack began.
• 7-10,000 Serbian refugees displaced by the advance.
• 49 percent of the country proposed for Muslim-Croation federation.
• 3 years of conflict with no resolution in sight.

Sources:

• Colum Murphy, senior spokesman for the United Nations peacekeeping force in Bosnia, as quoted in The New York Times.
• Klaus Kinkel, German Foreign Minister, statement on March 26, 1995.
• Commander of Swedish United Nations forces in the Tuzla area, as quoted in The New York Times.
• Agence France-Presse, photo of snipers in Sarajevo.