Battles of Ilidža

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Battles of Ilidža in 1992
Part of the Siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian War
Date First battle: 22 April 1992[1] Second battle: 14 May 1992[1][2] Location Ilidža, Sarajevo region, Bosnia and Herzegovina Result Yugoslav People's Army victory[3][4] The JNA retains control over Ilidža and surroundings[1] Bosnian failure and subsequent retreat Creation of the Ilidža Brigade[5]
Belligerents
Yugoslav People's Army	Bosnia and Herzegovina  Herzeg-Bosnia
Commanders and leaders
Željko Ražnatović	Unknown
Casualties and losses
12 killed[6][7] 8 captured[6]	Heavy[8]

The Battles on Ilidža (in Serbian: Bitke na Ilidžu; in Serbian Cyrillic: Битке на Илиџу; in Bosnian: Bitke na Ilidži) were attacks executed by Bosnian Muslims (ARBiH) to capture Ilidža from the Yugoslav army (JNA). The reason why the Bosnians attacked the settlement of Ilidža was to widen the passage between Sarajevo and the rest of the country. Two major battles happened in the area, both turned into victories of the JNA with considerable losses on both sides. These played an important role in the further course of the Siege of Sarajevo.

Bosnian Serb and JNA troops overwhelmed the poorly equipped and unprepared Bosnian security forces to take control of large areas of Bosnian territory in Sarajevo, beginning with attacks on Bosnian soldiers and policemen in the east. Serb military, police and paramilitary forces attacked towns and villages, sometimes assisted by local Serb residents; burning or sacking houses; beating or killing people or even raped, but Bosnian policemen and soldiers did the same too. The few survivors to these actions testified that Serb or Bosniak soldiers and police would visit the detention centres, select one or more women, take them out and rape them.^[9]

In Ilidža, fighting was tense. In the early morning of 22 April 1992, Croatian-Bosnian forces entered Ilidža, and occupied the hospital in the area. However, the JNA was ready to defend Ilidža, and when they arrived they saw the Bosnian Muslims turn the occupied hospital into a military fortress, making it the "field of battle". Most of the events were recorded by 'Robert Steliosa', who was wounded by a Bosnian sniper, but rescued by Bosnian Serb forces later. After intense fighting, the Serbs pushed the Croat-Bosniak forces back, ending the first battle suffering 12 men killed and 8 captured.^[6][7]

Little is known for the second attack: the Bosnians attacked Ilidža again on 14 May 1992 but this time they were more prepared. After hours of fighting, the Serbs defeated the Bosnians, who suffered heavy losses.^[8] The Bosniaks then stopped attacking Ilidža from the direction of Hrasnica, Sokolović, Butmir, Dobrinja, Stup and Otes. Ilidža would remain defended by Bosnian Serb forces until it was given back due to the Dayton Agreement.^[10]