SARAJEVO -- Bosnian Serbs have retaken 80 percent of the territory they lost to government troops around Bihac, United Nations officials said Monday, while Croatia warned it might intervene in the fighting if rebel Serbs in Croatia continued shelling the northern enclave.
Bosnian Serbs are responding to an onslaught by Moslem-Croat forces who captured extensive territory around the Bihac enclave as well as the central city of Kupres this month, handing Serbs their worst defeat since they went to war in 1992.
UN spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Tim Spicer said that recent attacks meant the Serbs had regained about 80 percent of the land lost to the government offensive. Fighting persisted Monday, and UN spokesman Major Herve Gourmelon, citing a UN field report, spoke of firefights four kilometers east of the Bihac city center.
He said this could be a "definite assault" by Serbs on the Grabez plateau, a strategic high ground in the enclave that has been the scene of fierce fighting in recent weeks.
Government troops defending Bihac are sandwiched between those Bosnian Serb troops and rebel Krajina Serbs in Croatia to the north and west.
The United Nations Security Council, in an emergency session Sunday, demanded that Croatian Serbs stop cross-border attacks.
Croatian officials also indicated that they might consider intervening in the fighting around Bihac if the rebel Serbs continued to shell the enclave.
"If the fall of Bihac becomes inevitable, the Croatian government will find it very difficult, if not downright impossible, to abide by the ceasefire agreement, but will be forced to fulfill its obligations towards neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina," Darko Bekic, Croatian representative at the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), was quoted as saying by the Croatian state news agency HINA.
Addressing the permanent CSCE committee in Budapest, Bekic alleged that Krajina Serbs had sent troops across the Bosnian border to assist the Bosnian Serb army offensive on the Bihac enclave.
United Nations peacekeepers have reported rebel Serb forces in Croatia have shelled the Bihac enclave. But they said there was no evidence rebel Serbs had sent infantry across the border to aid the assault.
Croatia on Sunday refused to listen to Bosnian government requests to intervene in Bihac to stave off the Bosnian Serb advance. But Bekic said Croatia had obligations under an agreement with the Bosnian government in Sarajevo to form a confederal state, including provisions for military cooperation and mutual assistance. He added Croatia "will make another effort to reach a peaceful solution to the crisis" at peace talks with the rebel Serb authorities scheduled to take place Tuesday in Zagreb.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.