Operation Višegrad

Operation Višegrad
Part of the Bosnian War
Date 7 April – 15 April, 1992 Location Višegrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina Result Yugoslav People's Army victory
Belligerents
Yugoslavia	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Commanders and leaders
Željko Ražnatović	Murat Šabanović
Units involved
Yugoslav People's Army Yugoslav Ground Forces Serb Volunteer Guard	Patriotic League
Strength
Around 1,200	Around 700
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

Operation Višegrad was the code name of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) operation to seize power in the city of Višegrad during the Bosnian War, in order to protect Bosnian Serb civilians and to expel the fighters of the Patriotic League. This battle was one of the first after the war, in addition to the battles for Kupres, Foča, Bijeljina and others.

Timeline of the Battle

During the spring of 1992, the situation in Višegrad was similar to that of other cities of Bosnia and Herzegovina: two ethnic groups were divided, the government and the police are formed separately, and barricades were erected. At the beginning of April 1992, about 1,000 Serbian TO fighters, and about 150 local policemen with a smaller unit of the 37th Užice Corps of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), marched into the city. The fighting was fought with a few hundred smaller group of Muslim police and members of the Patriotic League. The fiercest fight was fought on April 8 around the police station building. On the same day, a large part of the local Muslim population fled the city, there was also panic due to the rumor about the presence of Arkan in Višegrad.

At the end of the battle for Višegrad, an incident happened. Criminal Murat Šabanović made a desperate attempt to stop the Serbian attack by seizing a hydroelectric plant near the city and saying he was going to blow himself up. In that case, Višegrad and its surroundings would be flooded. After talking with him and persuading, the Serbs took over the dam, and the unsuspecting destroyer Murat retreated. In the next few days, Serbian forces destroyed scattered pockets of Muslim resistance near Višegrad, and a unit of the "Green Berets" (military wing of the SDA) was destroyed near Rudo.