Bosnia Rivals Told To ‘Knock Off’ Gunfire U.S. Commander Issues Warning After Bullet Hits American Plane

The commander of NATO forces in Bosnia warned the republic’s rival factions to “knock that stuff off” Saturday after gunfire ripped through an American plane and a British helicopter was targeted.

“I hold all parties responsible for making sure their people know this is a peace mission,” said U.S. Navy Adm. Leighton Smith. “I’m going to put the onus on the leaders of the parties.”

One small arms round hit a C-130 military transport plane bringing humanitarian aid to Sarajevo, Bosnia’s capital. The bullet entered under the navigator’s bulletproof seat and ricocheted in the cargo bay, NATO spokesman Lt. Col. Mark Rayner said. There were no injuries.

In Friday’s other incident, a British Sea King helicopter flying two sick infants and their mothers from the northern city of Tuzla to Sarajevo came under small arms fire two miles north of the capital. It was fired on again on the return flight. It was not hit either time.

Smith, speaking to reporters as he toured the American headquarters at Tuzla air base, said it had not been determined who fired the shot. He added the culprits probably would claim it was “celebratory gunfire.”

But he said that was no excuse. “Celebratory fire is the mark of an undisciplined army,” he said.

However, he added that cooperation with Bosnia’s rival sides had been good so far, despite “a few bumps in the road.”

NATO formally took over the Bosnia peacekeeping mission from the United Nations on Wednesday, in accord with a peace plan aimed at ending a 3-1/2-year war between Bosnia’s Muslim-led government and rebel Bosnian Serbs.

Tuzla is the center of operations for the 20,000 Americans who are part of the 60,000-member NATO-led army implementing the peace agreement, worked out last month in Dayton, Ohio.

After the handover, NATO forces immediately set to their task of separating the rival forces, bulldozing competing checkpoints and clearing mines.

In an accident highlighting a key danger of the mission, two British soldiers were wounded Thursday when a landmine blew up their vehicle near the northwestern town of Sanski Most, said spokesman Maj. Simon Haselock. One soldier was seriously wounded in the legs, while the other received minor wounds.

Smith, who arrived from Sarajevo, said he flew over parts of the Sava River in the Tuzla area, where American forces are building a pontoon bridge over the river that divides Croatia and Bosnia. American officials said the Sava is a major obstacle to the advance of 1st Armored Division into the Tuzla area.

On the Sava on Saturday, engineers from the U.S. 502nd engineering company connected the first seven segments of the bridge and reinforced the river banks for the construction. The bridge is expected to be completed by the end of next week.

Smith said troops and equipment were coming in pretty much on schedule, despite weather problems that severely hampered the airlift for several days.

He met with Col. Neal Patton, commander of the U.S. Air Force operations in Tuzla. He then went to Army headquarters, where Maj. Gen. William Nash, commander of the American Task Force Eagle, briefed him.

The admiral then toured the Tuzla base, chatting with soldiers at security points and wishing them a Merry Christmas.

“I’m real happy with what I see,” he said.

In Hungary, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, Gen. George A. Joulwan, visited U.S. troops to bolster morale.

“I know how it feels to leave family and children behind at this very special time of the year,” Joulwan said. “We go there (Bosnia) to implement the peace agreement. It is very significant to emphasize this at this time of the year.”

“Hopefully, we can make ‘96 a very special year,” he said.