Croat–Bosniak War
The Croat–Bosniak War was a conflict between the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, supported by Croatia, that lasted from 18 October 1992 to 23 February 1994. It is often referred to as a "war within a war" because it was part of the larger Bosnian War. In the beginning, the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) fought together in an alliance against the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS). By the end of 1992, however, tensions between Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats increased. The first armed incidents between them occurred in October 1992 in central Bosnia. The military alliance continued until early 1993, when it mostly fell apart and the two former allies engaged in open conflict.
| Croat–Bosniak War | |||||||||
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| Part of the Bosnian War and Yugoslav Wars | |||||||||
Clockwise from top right: remains of Stari Most in Mostar, replaced with a cable bridge; French IFOR Artillery Detachment, on patrol near Mostar; a Croat war memorial in Vitez; a Bosniak war memorial in Stari Vitez; view of Novi Travnik during the war | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
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Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia Supported by: Croatia |
Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Supported by: Bosnian mujahideen | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Mate Boban Krešimir Zubak Bruno Stojić Milivoj Petković Slobodan Praljak Ante Roso Valentin Ćorić Franjo Tuđman Gojko Šušak Janko Bobetko |
Alija Izetbegović Sefer Halilović Rasim Delić Enver Hadžihasanović Arif Pašalić Mehmed Alagić | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 40,000–50,000 (1993) | 100,000–120,000 (1993) | ||||||||
The Croat–Bosniak War escalated in central Bosnia and soon spread to Herzegovina, with most of the fighting taking place in those two regions. The war generally consisted of sporadic conflicts with numerous short ceasefires. However, it was not an all-out war between Bosniaks and Croats and they remained allied in other regions – mainly Bihać, Sarajevo and Tešanj. Several peace plans were proposed by the international community during the war, but each of them failed. On 23 February 1994, a lasting ceasefire was agreed, and an agreement ending the hostilities was signed in Washington on 18 March 1994, by which time the Croatian Defence Council had significant territorial losses. The agreement led to the establishment of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the resumption of joint operations against Serb forces, which helped alter the military balance and bring the Bosnian War to an end.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) convicted 17 Bosnian Croat officials, six of them for participating with Croatian president Franjo Tuđman and other top Croatian officials in a joint criminal enterprise that sought to annex or control Croat-majority parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to ethnically cleanse Bosniaks. Two Bosniak officials were also convicted for war crimes committed during the conflict. The ICTY ruled that Croatia had overall control over the Croatian Defence Council and that the Croatian Army had entered Bosnia, which made the conflict international.