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The Battle of Vrbanja bridge was an armed confrontation which occurred on 27 May 1995 between United Nations (UN) peacekeepers from the French Army and elements of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS), after the VRS seized French-manned United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) observation posts on both ends of the Vrbanja bridge crossing of the Miljacka river in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War. Upon seizing the bridge, the VRS took the French peacekeepers hostage. A platoon of 30 French peacekeepers subsequently re-captured the bridge with the support of 70 French infantrymen and direct fire from armoured vehicles, in an action which saw the first French Army bayonet charge since the Korean War. During the French assault, elements of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) opened fire on the VRS-held observation posts, accidentally wounding one French hostage. Two French soldiers were killed during the battle, 10 were wounded, and one died of wounds later that day. VRS casualties were four killed, three wounded and four captured. Following the battle, VRS forces were observed to be less likely to engage French UN peacekeepers deployed in the city. ==Background== During the Siege of Sarajevo, Vrbanja bridge was located in no-man's-land; it was surrounded by tall buildings, which made it a target of sniper-fire from the beginning of the Bosnian War.〔 On 5 April 1992, six protestors were shot on the bridge by Serb snipers; two, Suada Dilberović and Olga Sučić, died as a result of the sniper-fire and are considered by Croats and Bosniaks to be the first victims of the siege.〔Schmidt, Bettina (2001) ''Anthropology of Violence and Conflict''. Routledge, p. 221. ISBN 0-415-22905-7〕 In March 1995, while NATO was planning a new strategy to support peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a ceasefire brokered by former US President Jimmy Carter between the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (''Armija Republike Bosne i Hercegovine''; ARBiH) and the Army of Republika Srpska (''Vojska Republike Srpske''; VRS) forces expired and, as predicted, fighting resumed. As the struggle gradually widened, the ARBiH launched a large-scale offensive in the area of Sarajevo. In response to this attack, the VRS seized heavy weapons from a UN-guarded depot, and began shelling targets around Sarajevo, prompting the UN commander in Bosnia, Lieutenant General Rupert Smith, to request NATO air strikes against the VRS. NATO responded on 25 and 26 May 1995 by bombing a VRS ammunition dump in the Bosnian Serb capital, Pale.〔(Operation Deny Flight ) AFSOUTH Fact sheets〕 The mission was carried out by USAF F-16s and Spanish Air Force EF-18As Hornets armed with laser-guided bombs. In response, the VRS seized 377 UNPROFOR hostages and used them as human shields for a variety of potential targets in Bosnia and Herzegovina, forcing NATO to end the air strikes. Facing a second hostage crisis, General Smith and other top UN commanders began to shift strategy. The UN began to redeploy its forces to more defensible locations, so that they would be harder to attack and so that it would be more difficult to take UN personnel hostage. General Rose, on the other hand, established the UN Rapid Reaction Force, a heavily armed land unit with more aggressive rules of engagement, designed to take offensive action if necessary to prevent hostage-taking and enforce peace agreements.〔Bucknam, p. 216〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Vrbanja bridge」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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