Focus Feature

Special Operations Forces and Bosnian War Crimes Suspects

(Click on the above graphic to be taken to the UN's official ITCY page)

Hot Links

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NATO IFOR/SFOR Official Home Page

BosnianWar Crimes - Excellent informaton - must see

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NATO roundup signals tougher stand on Bosnian war criminals - July 10, 1997

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Who will catch Bosnia war criminals? - December 19, 1996

Special Forces Arrest War Crimes Suspects

By Thomas B. Hunter

(Graphic from ElectronicTelegraph)

On July 10, 1997, a 10-man team from the British 22 Special Air Service (SAS) were deployed to the forested mountains surrounding the Bosnian Serb capital of Pale. These soldiers were reportedly inserted by RAF Chinook helicopters from 47 Squadron operating from forward operating bases.

The specifics of the arrests were provided by an article in the UK newspaper The Telegraph: "The operation, codenamed Tango, involved the detention of Simo Drljaca and Milan Kovacevic by an SAS team in the area of Prijedor,north-west Bosnia. The men were identified and tailed covertly before being challenged by British troops in uniform carrying indictments issued by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Kovacevic did not offer resistance and was arrested at Prijedor hospital, where he is the director.

Drljaca, who was Prijedor's chief of police, was approached on a road outside the town. He fired his pistol, hitting a British soldier in the leg. British military sources said the other SAS soldiers fired in self defence.

Drljaca's body was taken by an American helicopter to its base at Tuzla,where the wounded British soldier was treated for what were described as "mild injuries". Kovacevic was taken to tribunal headquarters in the Hague. He is expected to be publicly indicted in the next few days. Both are believed to be suspected of involvement in some of the worst excesses of ethnic cleansing in Prijedor, where thousands of Bosnian Muslims were imprisoned, starved and tortured in 1992."

In light of the first successful operation, a similar mission was planned five months later. In support of continued international efforts to bringBosnian war crimes suspects to justice, Dutch and British special forces arrested two Bosnian Croats in the central Bosnian town of Vitez, 30 miles northwest of Sarajevo. Vlatko Kupreskic, 39, and Anto Furundzija, 28, were apprehended at their homes in simultaneous operations in the early morning hours of 18 December 1997. Folowwing their arrests, the two suspects were transported to The Hague, The Netherlands to face formal indictment by theUnited Nations International War Crimes Tribunal.

Although the Tribunal has not made public its specific charges, the men were allegedly among at least eight Croats who participated in a series of massacres in the Bosnian village of Ahmici and eight other settlements in April 1993. At least 103 people, including 33 women and children, died in the slaughter. Furundzija was additionally wanted for questioning about his role as commander of "The Jokers", one of two notoriously brutal paramilitary units operating the Lasva Valley.

To effect the apprehension of both individuals, a small team of commandos from the Dutch 108th Special Forces Company was inserted by helicopter near the town of Vitez just days prior to the operation. This team joined two troops from Great Britain's 22 Special Air Service (SAS) already operating in Bosnia. Pairs of 108th operators then set up covert observation posts near the suspects' homes and conducted surveillance to establish the mens patterns of movement and behavior. Immediately prior to the operation to arrest Kupresikic, telephone lines to his home were severed and the family's nightwatchman was tied up and gagged. With the exterior secured, a dynamic entry into the home was conducted minutes later with the use of an explosive device at the front door, followed by tear gas and stun grenades. These diversionary tools were not entirely effective, however, and Kupreskic managedto grab an automatic weapon and engage the commandos. In the brief firefightthat followed, Kupreskic was wounded in the arm, shoulder, and leg. Noneof the assault team was seriously injured.

The arrest of Furundzija, in a different section of Vitez, was nearlyaborted when surveillance observed him driving past his house shortly after midnight. Fears that the mission had been somehow compromised were quickly assauged when he circled back to his house and leisurely exited his vehicle.Upon entering his home he was challenged by the soldiers and arrested, offering no resistance. It was determined after questioning that Furundzija was intoxicatedand had simply missed the driveway to his house and had not, in fact, seenany of the commandos.

The selection of 108th SF personnel as the assault team was believedto have been prompted by an offer from the Dutch government, in part toremedy criticism at home that resulted from the failure of Dutch peacekeepersto prevent the murder of thousands of Muslims in the Bosnian enclave ofSrebrenica in July 1995.

There was some concern voiced by officials over the thrat of reprisalsby Bosnian Serbs resentful of NATO attempts to arrest citizens. Following Operation Tango, and unidentified individual lobbed four grenades into aBritish military outpost, causing minor damage but no casualties. It was later speculated that the incident had been perpetrated by a member of the Bosnian Serb special police force serving as a bodyguard unit for senior officials and VIPs. These units had been largely banned by NATO, howeverit is known that many members retained their weapons and equipment.

The only protests stemming from the 18 December Dutch-led operation came in the form of temporary roadblocks constructed by local citizens on the roads leading into and out of the town of Vitez. These were mostly peaceful in nature and no direct actions were taken against NATO forces in the area.

In related news, British soliders, including troopers from 22 SAS, providedprotection for war crimes investigators searching for evidence in a hard-line Serb nationalist town in Bosnia on 12 December. The investigators also receivedsupport from police loyal to President Biljana Plavsic, the Bosnian Serbleader. They searched three buildings in Prejedor - a private house, a municipal building and the headquarters of the hard-line Serb Democratic Party -for evidence against Milan Kovacevic, a Serb charged with crimes against humanity. The town of Prejedor was the scene of some of the worst ethnic violence during the Bosnian war.

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