The Battle of Vozuća ( bs, Bitka za Vozuću) was an attack by the

3rd Corps of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

and the foreign troops of the

Bosnian mujahideen Bosnian mujahideen ( bs, Bosanski mudžahedini), also called ''El Mudžahid'' (from ar, مجاهد, ''mujāhid''), were foreign Muslim volunteers who fought on the Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) side during the 1992–95 Bosnian War. They first arri ...

on 10 September 1995 against the strategically important

Army of Republika Srpska The Army of Republika Srpska ( sr, Војска Републике Српске/Vojska Republike Srpske; ВРС/VRS), commonly referred to in English as the Bosnian Serb Army, was the military of Republika Srpska (RS), the self-proclaimed Serb ...

-held village of

Vozuća Vozuća is a settlement in Zavidovići municipality, Zenica-Doboj Canton in Bosnia and Herzegovina, located on the river of Krivaja (Bosna), Krivaja. The settlement is known for the Battle for Vozuća of the Bosnian War, when the Armed Forces of B ...

, in the municipality of

Zavidovići Zavidovići ( sr-cyrl, Завидовићи) is a town and municipality located in Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, located be ...

during the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

The Attack

The attack itself was carried out by the ''El Mudžahid Detachment'' of the 3rd Corps, accompanied by some regular members of the

ARBIH The Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( bs, Armija Republike Bosne i Hercegovine or ARBiH), often referred to as Bosnian Army, was the military force of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was established by the government of ...

.ICTY transcript
September 24 2007
The attack had already been planned in May 1995 and was carried out in three phases. The first phase was called "Crveni lav" (Red Lion), the main goal of which was to cut off the communication with the VRS in Vozuća. This succeeded and pushed back the Serb forces. The second phase was called "Battle for pride”, the goal of which was to prepare refugees from

Srebrenica Srebrenica ( sr-cyrl, Сребреница, ) is a town and municipality located in the easternmost part of Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a small mountain town, with its main industry being salt mining and a nearby ...

and

Žepa Žepa ( sr-cyr, Жепа) is a village located in the municipality of Rogatica, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013 census, it has a population of 133 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Rogatica itself on the banks of short ...

to move into the area after it had been liberated. In fact, after the attack, only a small number of people arrived at the destroyed Vozuća area.

Final phase

The final attack, which was code named "Uragan", ( en,

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depe ...

) started on 10 September and ended the same day with the total victory of the Bosnian forces. The Army and the Mujahideen were aided by the

Black Swans Black swan is the common name for ''Cygnus atratus'', an Australasian waterfowl. (The) Black Swan(s) may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Black Swan'' (film), a 1942 swashbuckler film * ''Black Swans'' (film), a 2005 Dutch drama film * ...

, a special forces unit. The Bosnian forces continued advancing through the Ozren area.

Aftermath

After the takeover of the village, the Mujahideen captured and killed some 50 Serbs, abusing, torturing, stabbing and ritually beheading some of the prisoners. Bosnian general

Rasim Delić Rasim Delić (4 February 1949 – 16 April 2010) was the chief of staff of the Bosnian Army. He was a career officer in the Yugoslav Army but left it during the breakup of Yugoslavia and was convicted of war crimes by the International Crimina ...

was indicted on war crimes charges by the

ICTY The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to try their perpetrators. The tribuna ...

for crimes committed by the Mujahideen unit under his control, part of which dealt with the Vozuća case, though he was acquitted for those counts. In 2016, former Bosnian Army Third Corps commander

Sakib Mahmuljin Sakib Mahmuljin (born 13 October 1952) is a Bosniak politician and former military leader who served as the commander of the 3rd Corps of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) during the Bosnian War. After the war, he was c ...

was put on trial for having failed to prevent the murders and torture of Bosnian Serbs by members of his Mujahideen unit in the Vozuća and

areas. He was sentenced to 10 years in first instance in January 2021.

The Attack

Final phase

Aftermath

References

Further reading