20 years after the war in Bosnia 1992-1995: rare photos of the conflict

In April, 20 is celebrated years since the start of the Bosnian War, a long, complex and ugly conflict that followed the fall of communism in Europe. In 1991, Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia, leading to a civil war that lasted four years. The Bosnian population was a multi-ethnic mix of Muslim Bosnians (44%), Orthodox Serbs (31%) and Catholic Croats (17%). Bosnian Serbs, heavily armed and supported by neighboring Serbia, laid siege to the city of Sarajevo in April 1992. Their main target was the Muslim population, but at the entrance of the siege that lasted 44 for the month, many Bosnian Serbs and Croats were also killed. Finally, in 1995, NATO air strikes and UN sanctions forced all parties to the conflict to come to a peace agreement. The number of victims is very uncertain, from 90 to 300 thousands. Over 70 people were accused of UN war crimes.

1. During the Bosnian War, Vedran Smilovich plays Strauss in a bombed-out library in Sarajevo .. (Michael Evstafiev / AFP / Getty Images)

2. Former sniper position on the slope of the mountain Trebevich c which opens a view of Sarajevo. (Elvis Barukcic / AFP / Getty Images)

3. Bosnian commando is shot, hiding behind civilians from Serb snipers. Unknown snipers shot from the roof of the hotel for a peaceful demonstration. (Mike Persson / AFP / Getty Images)

4. Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic (right) and General Ratko Mladic are talking to reporters. (Reuters / Stringer)

5. Serbian soldier hiding behind a burning house in the village of Gorica. Bosnia-Herzegovina, on October 12, 1992. (AP Photo / Matija Kokovic)

6. Smoke and flames rise above the village of Ljuta during battles between Muslims and Orthodox at the foot of Mount Igman, 40 km south-west of Sarajevo. 22 July, 1993. (Reuters / Stringer)

7. A Bosnian woman is returning home from a walk through ruined shops on the "Sniper Alley". (AP Photo / Michael Stravato)

8. The French infantry from the UN patrol against the background of the destroyed Ahinizi mosque near Vitez. This Muslim city was destroyed during battles between Croats and Muslims. (Pascal Guyot / AFP / Getty Images)

9. The twin towers "Momo" and "Uzeyr" in lower Sarajevo during the fighting. (Georges Gobet / AFP / Getty Images)

10. Father's hands on the glass of the bus, sending his son and wife to a safety place from besieged Sarajevo. 10 November, 1992. (AP Photo / Laurent Rebours)

11. Muslim militant peeping snipers during a battle with the Yugoslav federal army in Sarajevo. 2 May, 1992. (AP Photo / David Brauchli)

12. Dead and wounded after the explosion of an artillery shell. 32 was killed and over 40 injured. (Reuters / Peter Andrews)

13. Captured Croatian soldiers go past the Serbian convoy after the battle near the central Bosnian mountain Vlasic. Over 7000 civilian Croats and around 700 soldiers fled into Serb territory from a Muslim attack. (Reuters / Ranko Cukovic)

14. A Serbian soldier beats a captured Bosnian militant during interrogation in the Bosnian city of Visegrad, 180 km south-west of Belgrade. 8 June, 1992. (AP Photo / Milan Timotic)

15. The 122 millimeter Bosnian government cannon at a position near Sanski Most, in 15 km east of the Badge Luka. 13 October, 1995. (AP Photo / Darko Bandic)

16. A woman stands between fresh graves. In the thick fog well hide from snipers. (AP Photo / Hansi Krauss)

17. Seven-year-old Nermin Divovich is mortally wounded near unidentified American and British soldiers. The boy was killed in the head by a sniper shooting from the center of the city. UN soldiers arrived almost immediately, but it was too late. (AP Photo / Enric Marti)

18. Sniper named "Arrow" charges weapon in the room at home in Sarajevo. 20-year-old Serbian lost count of how many people she killed, but she is still hard to pull the trigger. The former student of the journalism faculty says that her goal is mainly the opposite side snipers. (AP Photo / Martin Nangle)

19. Rocket blast near the cathedral in lower Sarajevo. Radio Sarajevo says all parts of the city are under heavy artillery fire. (Georges Gobet / AFP / Getty Images)

20. A Bosnian man carries his child along a section of the road shot by snipers. 11 April, 1993. (AP Photo / Michael Stravato)

21. Pretenders for “Miss Siege Sarajevo-93” are holding a poster “Don't let them kill us”. 29 May, 1993. (AP Photo / Jerome Delay)

22. Bloodied trash left after a shell hit a hospital in Sarajevo. Two were killed and six wounded. (AP Photo)

23. A man hides behind a truck, looking at the corpse of engineer Rakhmo Sheremet, who was shot by a sniper, who was supposed to inspect the installation of the anti-sniper barricade. 18 in May, 1995. (AP Photo)

24. Two prisoners during the visit of journalists and employees of the Red Cross in the Serbian camp near Chernopole. 13 August, 1992. (Andre Durand / AFP / Getty Images)

25. A French UN soldier installs barbed wire at a UN post in Sarajevo. 21, July 1995. (AP Photo / Enric F. Marti)

26. The corpses of Serbian civilians, killed by a raid commando of the Croatian army in the town of Bosanska Dubica, in 250 km west of Sarajevo. 19 September, 1995. (AP Photo)

27. Two Croatian soldiers pass by the body of a Serbian soldier killed in a Croatian attack on the Serbian city of Drvar, in western Bosnia. 18, August 1995 in western Bosnia. (Tom Dubravec / AFP / Getty Images)

28. The American fighter F14 takes off on patrol to Bosnia from the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt. (Reuters / Stringer)

29. Smoke rises after a NATO air strike against the Bosnian Serb position in Pale, 16 km east of Sarajevo. NATO fighters attacked Serb warehouses and radar stations to eliminate threats to UN safe zones. (AP Photo / Oleg Stjepanivic)

30. Children look at NATO jet fighters over Sarajevo, establishing a “no-fly zone”. 12 May, 1993. (AP Photo / Rikard Larma)

31. Serbian policeman Goran Elisic shooting a victim in Brsko, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was caught, charged with war crimes and sentenced to 40 years in prison. (Courtesy of the ICTY)

32. Srebrenica refugees spending nights in the open air near the UN base at Tuzla airport. July XXXX, 14. (AP Photo / Darko Bandic) #

33. Damaged house in an abandoned village near the road to the city of Dervent. 27 March, 2007. (Reuters / Damir Sagolj)

34. A Muslim woman cries over a coffin during a mass grave for victims killed in 1992-95 in Bosnia. The remains were found in common graves near the towns of Predor and Kozarak, in 50 km north-west of Banja Luka. July 20, 2011. (Reuters / Dado Ruvic)

35. A Muslim from Srebrenica, sitting beside photos of the victims of the Bosnian War, is watching a televised translation of the Ratko Mladic trial. Mladic said that he defended his people and his country, and now he defends himself against war crimes charges. Mladic is accused of besieging Sarajevo and killing more than 8000 Muslims in Srebrenica .. (Reuters / Dado Ruvic)

36. Muslim indulges in grief at the Potokari cemetery near Srebrenica. This year 615 people were reburied from mass graves, and in recent years their number has exceeded 4500. (Andrej Isakovic / AFP / Getty Images)

37. A Muslim girl walks past a stone memorial in Srebrenica. Near 8300, Muslim men were killed in a UN-defended security enclave in Srebrenica by Serbian Republican army fighters .. (Sean Gallup / Getty Images)

38. Zoran Laquette stands in front of the destroyed building after an interview with Reuters. Twenty years after the start of the war, the ethnic problem remains extremely acute. Especially in Mostar, where the western coast is controlled by Bosnian Muslims, and the eastern coast is controlled by the Croats, and both sides resist external attempts at reintegration. (Reuters / Dado Ruvic)

39. Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic during the beginning of the tribunal in the Hague. He is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as alleged "secret atrocities" in 1992-95. (AP Photo / Jerry Lampen, Pool)

40. Wrecked tank at the intersection in front of the destroyed building in the Kovachichi district of the city of Sarajevo. [click image to view transition] (Reuters / Staff)

41. UN peacekeepers put a fence in front of the damaged towers of the United Investment and Trading Company (UNITIC) and the Orthodox Church. In the second photo - they are also restored. (Reuters / Danilo Krstanovic and Dado Ruvic)

42. A man carries a bag of firewood across a dilapidated bridge against the background of a burnt-down library. In the second photo - the restored bridge and library in the woods. (Reuters / Peter Andrews and Dado Ruvic)

43. Bosnian teenager carries containers with water against the background of a burnt tram in Sarajevo. In the second photo - a woman goes through the same place now. (Reuters / Oleg Popov and Dado Ruvic)

44. A woman leaves a flower on an empty chair on the main street of Sarajevo. 11541 empty chair symbolize the victims of the siege. Thousands of people gathered for an anniversary, to listen to the choir and a small classical orchestra 14 songs written during the siege (Elvis Barukcic / AFP / Getty Images)

45. 11541 red armchairs on Tito street in Sarajevo. The country is still deeply divided, power is divided between Serbs, Croats and Muslims. The central government is too weak to unite the country. (Reuters / Dado Ruvic) #

46. A child lays flowers on a red armchair on Tito Street in Sarajevo during an event marking the 20 anniversary of the beginning of the Bosnian War.

Comments

[Nester]

Damn, 17 photos touched to the depth ... A sniper shooting at children is simply not human. The kid would live and live ...
In general, such photos are useful for those who, having played enough of Call of Duty, Medal of Honor and similar games, fall ill with the "romance" of war. I have a couple of such acquaintances. Romantics are bad.

[Num lock U.A.]

yes, it is useful for all "war romantics" to watch such photos from time to time, plus

[Bogdan01]

Well, firstly, the word sniper journalists can mean any shot from an ambush.
Perhaps the child got accidentally during a shootout, which often started unexpectedly and people simply did not have time to hide.

[Dan099]

As always, the Serbs are to blame for everything ....
Justice will come when, along with the Serbs Koradziczym and Mladic in The Hague, they will condemn Franjo Tudjman, Ante Gotovina, Janko Bobetko, Atif Dudakovich and other Croats responsible for the murders and expulsion of the wrecks ...
Or to not judge anyone - writing off everything to the war. But once again I am convinced that only losers are judged .. moreover, in the role of judges there are always winners.

[Chicot 1]

Indeed, commercials are unobtrusively served, if a sniper, then a Serb, but if a victim, then a Bosnian ...
Mladic is charged with the murder of 8000 Bosnians, and how many in turn killed the Bosnian Serbs ...
And of course, peacekeeping peacekeepers ... Everyones there French, British, American ... If these peacekeepers had not brewed all this mess, then there would not have been all these victims ... That is who should be judged first of all! ..

[Bogdan01]

Here, wise words,
Everyone must answer in full, for their non-human deeds

[755962]

The Serbs experienced the true "care" of the West for peace and democracy. Only before were Austrians, Frenchmen and Germans engaged in the promotion of democratic principles, and in the XNUMXth and XNUMXst centuries the Anglo-Saxons did this. Forgive us, brothers!

[YARY]

Yes, and this time the Anglo-Saxons had allies Muslims, Albanians and the "civilized" gayropa. And most importantly their ally was EBN!

[Civil]

here we need to avoid such a split, first for political reasons, then for the nat and faith!

[Dust]

Yes, yes, yes - the Serbs are to blame! And who else? And the West is generally angels ...
We have already seen all sorts of touching photographs about prisoners of Serbian concentration camps from independent (from their own conscience) photographers - as it later turned out, these imaginary prisoners were OUTDOOR of barbed wire ...
In fact, you’ll understand the hell, the Serbs are shooting or lying there, the Croat and the Bosniak - whatever you write in the signature, they suggest that you believe ...

[schta]

Does it seem to me alone that the selection is biased against the Serbian side?

[Prometey]

There is one photo about the victims from the Serbian side after the shelling by the Croats. Another question is that it was not easier for the residents of Sarajevo and other cities from the one who shot them - Serbs or Muslims - a meaningless, bloody conflict.

[Bogdan01]

no not one!

[Bogdan01]

Pay attention to photo No. 5, the position of the fuse box ...

[Olegovich]

Political puppeteers remained in the shadows. Their working methods are getting better and better. Centuries change, and global conflicts occur again and again. There used to be crusades, but now there are "peacekeeping operations".
Russia was destined for the same fate. Yes, in fact, the plans have not changed, we just keep in spite.
Putin is right a thousand times over: the Russians need to stick together, to prevent internecine national carnage. And any manifestations of terrorism, extremism, "independence" - to strangle in the bud. Build the economy, bring "orange and other colored" people to clean water.
Such photos should be periodically published on TV, and not be washed up by youth with endless series. It acts sobering, and sometimes adds to the mind.

[FED]

Those who were from the Muslims ruined the south of the Slavs, Nato also made the most important contribution for a long time, and from fear who is where .....

[FREGATENKAPITAN]

There is no one to blame or right in the civil war ... everything mixes up, revenge begins further, and more .......... This is all clear, clear ....
One thing is not clear .... why are the Serbs to blame? (As well as Russians) ... yes, everything is clear, Orthodox Slavs ..... The enemy of the Catholic and Prostestan West from the beginning of the Middle Ages was Orthodoxy, Russia, Byzantium ........ Remember as crusaders those who had gone to Palestine to free the tomb of the Lord Orthodox were cut out in the guise of Constantinople, the Orthodox were destroyed in Syria and Egypt ......
So since then, the whole stream of hatred and lies has been coming from the West, hiding behind the most specious pretexts, they are trying to destroy the Slavic, Orthodox identity

[BAT]

EBN passed to the states of Yugoslavia. Surrendered, bastard, meanly, shamefully, treacherously. He cannot be forgiven for this. But Yugoslavia was the only country that during the Second World War throughout this war not only resisted the Nazis, but waged full-fledged military operations. And the eternally drunken struggle betrayed them ... And now we have lost them as allies ...

[Arkan]

sichevik It’s impossible to disagree with you. Moreover, then the Serbs didn’t ask so much (several S-300 systems). Unfortunately, the Russian leadership didn’t have anyone who could talk to NATO since Yevkurov.

[Prometey]

Several S-300 complexes would not have been saved by Yugoslavia - the entire NATO military machine was thrown against Yugoslavia. Our air defense general told about this in one of the programs (unfortunately, I don’t remember his name). He said that during the NATO operation, apart from direct military assistance, nothing would have helped the Serbs - because the air defense system, no matter how sophisticated it would be, would be destroyed sooner or later without countermeasures (retaliatory full-fledged air strikes).

[Arkan]

Prometey, S-300 - this was the request of the Serbs. Whether these complexes would help them or not is another question. (It is doubtful if NATO would have launched the bombing at all if the Serbs had modern air defense). The fact of the delivery of such weapons would have emphasized the position Russia (also not unimportant).

[Bogdan01]

In my opinion, I think you will agree with me,
Be our politicians more persistent, they would
introduced warships into the Mediterranean Sea, including aircraft carriers.
And Rusbat from Serbian Krajina not to Russia, but in full force, these are 4 companies, sent would
directly to Kosovo, just as they transferred a group from Uglivik there.
Then would not a single NATO bomb would fly out in the direction of Serbian cities. To all this we succeeded would avoid ethnic sweeps on both sides.
Only in all this WOULD interferes!
P> S
The presence of Russia cools the ardor of NATO!

[Prometey]

There was one strong state in which everyone had lived together before that. But such conflicts do not arise on their own, so someone stood behind all this, someone was able to pit and fan such fierce hostility between kindred peoples, albeit of different faiths. For some it meant it was profitable. Of course, the Serbs are not honored by the shelling of residential areas in Sarajevo, but why do not we see, along with the Serbs, in the dock the war criminals from among Croatian and Muslim militants?
In photo No. 23, it looks like a photoshop or a performance. A man killed by a sniper - and not a gram of blood.

[Kraljevic]

After 7 years, the answer. This moment is like a video on YouTube, if you look at the words sniper alley. Not a staging at all. The frame is taken a moment after hitting and falling.

[Mondeo]

When we leave, we are just soldiers, sometimes gloomy, sometimes funny, but as soon as we get to the strip where the front begins, we become half-humans - half-animals.

[fun12]

Civil war is a tragedy for any country. There can be no right and guilty in it. There can be no heroes in it

[Walther]

There is always a place for heroism. For example, when saving comrades or protecting civilians

[Baron Wrangell]

once again the photographs prove that the war beyond whatever framework of harmony and purpose was hidden, is an abomination, it is horror, this cannot be done!

[Walther]

It doesn’t fit my head as best they could after so many years of living together so abruptly start killing each other

[jamalena]

Everything is simple here - they will kill your relative, and they will set you on a completely different one, even not knowing about it. Chain reaction.

[Bogdan01]

Yes, they themselves do not know how all this happened.
Blaming each other
But in the village and the city themselves, they kept an eye on and protected each other’s houses from looters. Serbs of the house of Croats, Croats of the house of Serbs.

But how do Muslims explain the execution of the UNA convoy from Tuzla ?!

[N. Sarychev]

Photos 12 and 17 staged. As for 12, it seems that they were shooting in a place where the shells did not explode at all, there is not a single mark from the fragments on the walls in the photo, there are no traces of bullet or fragment fragments (example photo 30, 38). Well, about the kid in photo 17, the soldiers were put in some poses, they poured a liquid similar to blood, laid a child next to him. Yes, and I tell you, the real corpses look scary, their faces are distorted, pale, dirty, bloodied! I have seen many such landscapes in my time, I know what kind of people there are when they were killed.

[Baemaley99]

In due time I was shocked by one plot. How Princess Dianna visited the early Croatian (or Bosnian) children in the hospital. A few kilometers away, in another hospital, were Serbian wounded children. This TSACA did not want to go there. In my opinion "NO COMMENTS".

[Prometey]

So she is "the beacon of democracy and humanity", how could she go to the "bloodthirsty" Serbs? It was not for nothing that she and Dodik Al-Fayed then fiddled around, who had troubled affairs with Islamic extremists. But no one has yet left this life unpunished.

[dr. Mengele]

it's all sad ... the Slavs annihilate each other but on this someone stirs up their affairs and someone else is deliberately put up scapegoats

[SectoR]

Quote: Walther

It doesn’t fit my head as best they could after so many years of living together so abruptly start killing each other

Under Josipom, Broz Tito was in order. It was under him that all the peoples of Yugoslavia were recognized as equal, in the country the intensity of interethnic relations decreased. Even the country's leadership announced the emergence of a new supranational ethnic community - the Yugoslav people.
And after the death of such a strong man, everything began to crumble - rapid inflation, the collapse of the economy, and the old misfortune of nationalism ...

[Prometey]

Tito managed to unite the Serbs, Croats, Slovenes and Muslims for a while with a tight grip. By the way, Tito himself was a Croat. But he did not eliminate the national-religious contradictions. Tito pursued a policy of building a strong Yugoslavia by weakening Serbia (the Serbs themselves say this). Serbs were the most numerous people in Yugoslavia and Tito temporarily stifled their leadership aspirations. But after it, a gradual fermentation began, fueled from outside, while the Serbs themselves, unfortunately, did not have enough political wisdom to smooth out interethnic contradictions and the blame for the split of Yugoslavia also lies to a large extent on S. Milosevic, who refused to seek a compromise first with the Slovenes. then with the Croats. And then the "big players" from the West intervened, taking advantage of the growing ethnic strife and began to hack Yugoslavia, and for the most part, Serbia.

[Bogdan01]

All Orthodox, Serbs, Montenegrins, etc., the entire adult generation, recall Tito as a cult of personality.

[Bogdan01]

And also how in Russia now, how do Muslims from the Caucasus behave? Illegals ?!
Yes, they feel at home, they want to do something.
And that they have not yet united in groups, in a herd.
Soon they will be tired of moral behavior without Slavs and something will happen!

[jamalena]

Photo No. 17. Fearfully. What is this devil who shot a child right in the head. Burn forever in hell, bloodsuckers, killers of innocent children! Damn you until the seventh generation, T BARP!

[sas]

I'm in shock! When you shoot a child all your goals, nationality, faith - do not play any role. Whether you are a Serb or a Bosnian, Orthodox or Muslim ... How, how can you purposefully shoot civilians, especially children? How!?

[Bogdan01]

We are for peace, equality, democracy and justice throughout the world!
But we would have to put things in order at home!

[Dust64004]

There are a lot of questions to the photo. The author of the article incorrectly indicates the names of settlements and confuses concepts. As a participant in the events of the Yugoslav war and the places indicated under the photo, I doubt the veracity of these facts. Pts a lot of inconsistencies.