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On 25 and 26 May 1995,
NATO
conducted
air strikes
against positions of the
Army of Republika Srpska
(VRS) at
Pale
, as part of
Operation Deny Flight
, during the
Bosnian War
.
Events
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While NATO was planning its new strategy, the ceasefire expired, and as predicted, fighting resumed. As the fighting gradually widened, Bosnian government forces (the
ARBiH
) launched a large-scale offensive in the area of
Sarajevo
. In response to the attack, Bosnian Serb forces (the VRS) seized heavy weapons from a
UNPROFOR
-guarded depot and began shelling targets.
As a retaliation for these actions, the UN commander, Lt. General
Rupert Smith
requested NATO air strikes. NATO obliged, and on 25 and 26 May 1995, bombed a VRS ammunition depot at
Pale
.
The mission was carried out by USAF
F-16s
and
Spanish Air Force
EF-18As
armed with
laser-guided bombs
.
[a]
On 26 May, the Serbs seized 377 UNPROFOR hostages in retaliation and used them as
human shields
for a variety of targets in Bosnia, forcing NATO to end its strikes.
Aftermath
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Facing a second hostage crisis, General Smith and other top UN commanders began shifting strategies. UNPROFOR began to redeploy its forces to more defensible locations, so that they would be harder to attack or take hostage. More importantly, General
Michael Rose
established the UN Rapid Reaction Force, a heavily armed unit with more aggressive rules of engagement, designed to take offensive action if necessary to prevent hostage-taking and enforce peace agreements.
See also
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Notes
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- ^
This was the first offensive action carried out by the Spanish Air Force.
References
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Sources
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Foreign rule
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21st century
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