Editing Siege of Sarajevo (section)

==NATO's intervention==
{{main|1995 NATO bombing campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina}}
[[File:Sarajevo Tower.jpg|thumb|left|The remains of the building of Sarajevo newspaper ''[[Oslobođenje]]'', kept as a memorial for several years after the siege]]
On 6 February 1994, a day after the first Markale marketplace massacre, UN [[Secretary-General of the United Nations|Secretary-General]] Boutros-Ghali formally requested NATO's confirmation that air strikes would be carried out immediately.<ref name="Bethlehem1997pliii">{{cite book|title=The 'Yugoslav' Crisis in International Law|last1=Bethlehem|first1=Daniel L.|last2=Weller|first2=Marc|year=1997|page=liii|series=Cambridge International Documents Series|volume=5|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-46304-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7SczBzxA6-IC&pg=PR53}}</ref> On 9 February 1994, agreeing to the request of the UN, the [[North Atlantic Council]] of NATO authorized the Commander of [[Allied Forces Southern Europe]] (CINCSOUTH), U.S. Admiral [[Jeremy Boorda]], to launch air strikes against artillery and mortar positions in and around Sarajevo that were determined by UNPROFOR to be responsible for attacks against civilian targets.<ref name="nh-ev">{{citation|title=NATO Handbook: Evolution of the Conflict|publisher=NATO|url=http://www.nato.int/docu/handbook/2001/hb050102.htm|access-date=12 August 2011|archive-date=6 February 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100206234650/http://www.nato.int/docu/handbook/2001/hb050102.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=American national biography|first=Mark Christopher|last=Carnes|page=29|volume=29|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2005|isbn=9780195222029|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wZczV8ZxgL4C&pg=PA29}}</ref> Only [[Greece]] failed to support the use of airstrikes, but did not veto the proposal.<ref name="Bethlehem1997pliii"/> The council also issued an ultimatum at the 9 February meeting to the Bosnian Serbs demanding that they remove heavy weapons around Sarajevo by midnight of 20–21 February or face air strikes.<ref name="Bethlehem1997pliii"/> There was some confusion surrounding compliance with the ultimatum, and [[Prime Minister of Hungary|Hungarian Prime Minister]] [[Péter Boross]] announced that his country's air space would be closed to NATO aircraft in the event of airstrikes.<ref name="Bethlehem1997pliii"/> On 12 February 1994, Sarajevo enjoyed its first casualty-free day in 22 months (since April 1992).<ref name="Bethlehem1997pliii"/>

As many as 400 NATO aircraft participated in the air campaign.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mahnken |first=Thomas G. |url=https://archive.org/details/technologyameric1945mahn/page/n194 |title=Technology and the American Way of War Since 1945 |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-231-12337-2 |location=New York |page=182 |url-access=limited}}</ref>
[[File:Bombing republika srpska.jpg|thumb|A Bosnian Serb target is hit by U.S. aircraft]]

On 5 August, the VRS seized several weapons from the Illidža Weapons Collection site in clear violation of the [[exclusion zone]] agreement. During the seizure, the Serbs injured a Ukrainian UNPROFOR peacekeeper. In response to the attack, the UN once again requested NATO air support. Two U.S. A-10 aircraft repeatedly strafed Serb targets, prompting the Serbs to return the seized weapons to the collection site.<ref name="Bucknam, p. 163"/>
On 22 September, UNPROFOR again requested NATO air support in the Sarajevo area after Serb forces attacked a French [[armored personnel carrier]]. In response, two British Jaguar aircraft struck and destroyed a Serb tank.<ref name = "AFSOUTH">AFSOUTH Fact Sheet</ref>

[[File:Sarajevo june 1995.jpg|thumb|Bosnian Army Offensive Operations in the Sarajevo Region, 15–22 June 1995]]

As the fighting gradually widened in 1995, [[Bosnian offensive on Sarajevo (1995)|Bosnian Muslim forces launched a large-scale offensive in the area of Sarajevo]]. In response to the attack, the Bosnian Serbs seized heavy weapons from a UN-guarded depot, and began shelling targets.<ref>Beale, p. 33</ref> As a retaliation for these actions, the UN commander, Lt. General [[Rupert Smith]], requested NATO air strikes. NATO honored the request on 25 May and 26 May 1995 by [[1995 Pale air strikes|bombing a Serb ammunition dump near Pale]].<ref name = "AFSOUTH"/> The mission was carried out by USAF [[F-16]]s and [[Spanish Air Force]] [[McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet|EF-18A]] Hornets armed with laser-guided bombs.<ref>Ripley, p. 23</ref> The Serbs then seized 377 UNPROFOR hostages and used them as human shields for a variety of targets in Bosnia, forcing NATO to end its strikes.<ref>Bucknam, p. 215</ref>

On 27 May 1995, Serb soldiers posing as French troops captured two UN observation posts at either end of the front-line [[Vrbanja bridge]] without firing a shot. They wore French uniforms, flak jackets and helmets, were armed with French weapons and drove a French armoured personnel carrier – all stolen from UN troops detained outside the city. The soldiers disarmed the 12 peacekeepers at gunpoint. Ten were taken to an unknown destination while two remained on the bridge as human shields. The French responded by sending 30 troops, backed by six light tanks, to storm the northern end of the bridge. Two French soldiers were killed in [[Battle of Vrbanja Bridge|the clash]] and five were wounded, while four Serb soldiers were killed and four were taken prisoner. At the end of the day, the Serbs remained in control of the southern portion of the bridge, while the French occupied the northern portion.<ref>{{cite news| newspaper=The Independent| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/french-humiliation-sparks-battle-of-vrbanja-bridge-1621353.html| title=French humiliation sparks battle of Vrbanja| date= 28 May 1995| access-date=6 October 2012}}</ref> The Serbs later abandoned the southern portion of the bridge.

In 1995, the international forces firmly turned against the besiegers after the second Markale massacre of 28 August. On 30 August, the [[Secretary General of NATO]] announced the start of air strikes, supported by UNPROFOR rapid reaction force artillery attacks.<ref name="changing69">{{cite book | title= The changing rules on the use of force in international law | first= Tarcisio | last= Gazzini | year= 2005 | page= 69 | publisher= [[Manchester University]] Press | isbn= 978-0-7190-7325-0 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=fDimGeTLOLkC&pg=PA69}}</ref> On that same day, a French [[Dassault-Breguet Mirage 2000|Mirage 2000]] was downed by a Bosnian Serb shoulder-fired SAM near Pale.<ref>Central Intelligence Agency. (2002). ''Balkan battlegrounds: a military history of the Yugoslav conflict, 1990–1995.'' Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Russian and European Analysis, v. 1, page 378</ref>

On 1 September, NATO and the UN demanded the lifting of the siege, removal of heavy weapons from the heavy weapons exclusion zone around Sarajevo, and complete security of other UN [[safe area (Bosnian War)|safe area]]s. The Bosnian Serb leaders were given a deadline of 4 September, and the [[Operation Deliberate Force]] bombing campaign was suspended. Heavy weapons had not been removed when the deadline passed. On 5 September, air strikes resumed on Bosnian Serb positions around Sarajevo and near the Bosnian Serb headquarters at Pale.

On 14 September, they were again suspended, this time to allow the implementation of an agreement with the Bosnian Serbs which included the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the exclusion zone. Finally, on 20 September 1995, French General [[Bernard Janvier]] (Commander of UNPROFOR) and U.S. Admiral [[Leighton W. Smith Jr.]] (CINCSOUTH) agreed that it was not necessary to resume the strikes as the Bosnian Serbs had complied with the UN's conditions. Operation Deliberate Force was terminated.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://planken.org/balkans/chronology/unprofor/1995|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314010216/http://planken.org/balkans/chronology/unprofor/1995|url-status=dead|title=1995 &#124; planken.org|archive-date=14 March 2016|website=planken.org}}</ref>