The Battle of Žepče (Croatian: Bitka kod Žepča) took place between the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) and the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) in Žepče, Bosnia and Herzegovina on the 24th of June 1993.
Prelude
War broke out between Herzeg-Bosnia, supported by Croatia, and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, supported by the Bosnian Mujahideen[1] and the Croatian Defence Forces. It lasted from 18 October 1992 to 23 February 1994,[2] and is considered often as a "war within a war" as it was a part of the much larger Bosnian War. Fighting soon spread to Central Bosnia and soon Herzegovina, where most of the fighting would take place in those regions.
Battle
The 319th Mountain Brigade which was located in the city found itself surrounded while other brigade of ARBiH took over high ground around city. Žepče was defended by HVO 111th xp Žepče brigade and Andrija Tadić battalion. After six days of fighting for Žepče, on 30 June Galib Dervišević agrees to surrender the 305th and 319th Brigade after which the brigades abolished. By Croat sources, captured Bosniak soldiers numbered to around 5000.
References
- ^ "(IT-01-47) HADŽIHASANOVIĆ & KUBURA. The Prosecutor v. Enver Hadžihasanović and Amir Kubura" (PDF).
- ^ "Bosnian War European history [1992–1995]". Britannica. Archived from the original on 14 November 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2021.