Editing Sarajevo (section)

===Bosnian War===
{{Main|Siege of Sarajevo}}
{{See also|Sniper Alley}}
[[File:Sarajevo Red Line 3.jpeg|thumb|The [[Sarajevo Red Line]], a memorial event of the [[Siege of Sarajevo]]'s 20th anniversary. 11,541 empty chairs symbolized 11,541 victims of the war who were killed during the Siege<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.city.ba/puls/1172-sarajevska-crvena-linija-11541/ |publisher=City.ba |title=Sarajevo Red Line – 1154 |language=bs |date=4 April 2012 |access-date=4 December 2013 |archive-date=21 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221091015/http://www.city.ba/puls/1172-sarajevska-crvena-linija-11541 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.e-novine.com/srbija/61616-Crvena-linija-rtve-opsade-Sarajeva.html/ |publisher=E-News |title=Red Line for the victims of the Siege of Sarajevo |language=bs |date=4 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120701163622/http://www.e-novine.com/srbija/61616-Crvena-linija-rtve-opsade-Sarajeva.html |archive-date=1 July 2012}}</ref>]]

The [[Bosnian War]] for independence resulted in large-scale destruction and dramatic population shifts during the [[Siege of Sarajevo]] between 1992 and 1996. Thousands of Sarajevans lost their lives under the constant bombardment and sniper shooting at civilians by the [[Army of Republika Srpska|Serb forces]] during the siege,<ref name="UNCOE">{{cite web |url=http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/comexpert/ANX/VI-01.htm |title=Final report of the United Nations Commission of Experts established pursuant to security council resolution 780 |last=Bassiouni |first=Cherif |date=27 May 1994 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=10 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302163248/http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/comexpert/ANX/VI-01.htm |archive-date=2 March 2014}}</ref> the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article575571.ece |title=The new siege of Sarajevo |last=Connelly |first=Charlie |date=8 October 2005 |work=The Times |location=UK |access-date=10 May 2010 |archive-date=5 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200505131350/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Bosnian Serb forces of the [[Republika Srpska]] and the [[Yugoslav People's Army]] besieged Sarajevo from 5 April 1992 to 29 February 1996.

[[File:Signing the Dayton Agreement Milosevic Tudjman Izetbegovic.jpg|thumb|The signing of the [[Dayton Agreement]] in [[Paris]] ended the 3 1⁄2-year-long [[Bosnian War]]]]

When [[1992 Bosnian independence referendum|Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence]] from [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] and achieved [[United Nations]] recognition, Serbian leaders declared a new Serbian national state Republika Srpska (RS) which was carved out from the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.helsinki.org.rs/tjgenocide_t01.html |title=A statement at the seventh biennial meeting of the International Association of Genocide Scholars |last=Hartmann |first=Florence |date=July 2007 |publisher=Helsinki |access-date=11 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111213022305/http://www.helsinki.org.rs/tjgenocide_t01.html |archive-date=13 December 2011}}</ref> The Army of Republika Srpska encircled Sarajevo with a siege force of 18,000<ref name=Times /> stationed in the surrounding hills, from which they assaulted the city with artillery, mortars, tanks, anti-aircraft guns, heavy machine guns, multiple rocket launchers, rocket-launched aircraft bombs, and sniper rifles.<ref name=Times>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3039582.ece |title=Serb general Dragomir Milosevic convicted over Sarajevo siege |last=Strange |first=Hannah |date=12 December 2007 |work=The Times |location=UK |access-date=10 May 2010 |archive-date=3 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903014053/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3039582.ece |url-status=dead }}</ref> From 2 May 1992, the Serbs [[blockade]]d the city. The [[Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnian government defense forces]] inside the besieged city were poorly equipped and unable to break the siege.

During the siege, 11,541 people were killed, including over 1,500 children. An additional 56,000 people were wounded, including nearly 15,000 children.<ref name="UNCOE" /> The [[1991 population census in Bosnia and Herzegovina|1991 census]] indicates that before the siege, the city and its surrounding areas had a population of 525,980.

When the siege ended, the concrete scars caused by mortar shell explosions left marks that were filled with red resin. After the red resin was placed, it left floral patterns, which led to them being dubbed [[Sarajevo Rose]]s. Division of the territory according to the [[Dayton Agreement]] resulted in a [[Exodus of Sarajevo Serbs|mass exodus]] in early 1996 of some 62,000 Sarajevo Serbs from the city and its suburbs, creating today's more monoethnic post-war city.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McEvoy |first1=Joanne |last2=O'Leary |first2=Brendan |author-link2=Brendan O'Leary |title=Power Sharing in Deeply Divided Places |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u68In2tKRwoC&pg=PA345 |date=22 April 2013 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-0798-9 |page=345 |access-date=17 May 2020 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728153913/https://books.google.com/books?id=u68In2tKRwoC&pg=PA345 |url-status=live }}</ref>