American Troops Seize Weapons
U.S. troops seized thousands of weapons Thursday from a Bosnian army unit accused of taking part in the worst fighting since the war ended. The Americans had to force back Muslims who threw themselves in front of the trucks hauling the arms away.
Russian troops in the NATO-led peace force also seized a smaller cache from Bosnian Serb police, who, along with the Bosnian army, are accused of fighting Tuesday inside Bosnia’s demilitarized zone, leaving one person dead and four wounded.
By confiscating weapons from both sides, leaders of the peace force aimed both to demonstrate their determination on the peace mission and to prevent a deterioration in relations “that could lead to another war,” said Maj. Gen. Montgomery C. Meigs, commander of NATO-led troops in northeastern Bosnia.
U.S. troops seized the weapons in a four-hour raid launched at dawn. They confiscated more than 1,000 each of automatic weapons, mortar rounds and grenades, along with several anti-aircraft guns, five grenade launchers, other ordnance and two armored vehicles. It took six trucks to haul the arms away under the guard of artillery and tanks.
Muslims threw themselves in front of the wheels and tracks to try to stop the trucks, forcing American troops to physically remove them, said Col. Michael Thompson, commander of the 126th Infantry.
The soldiers “withstood considerable abuse” but no one was hurt, he said.
The peace force also ordered a Bosnian military unit - the 254th Brigade - to shut its base near Celic by Nov. 23 and to remove the few weapons remaining there.
Bosnian army commanders had “indicated they were not in control of their units. … Discipline had broken down,” Meigs said.
But Bosnian officials angrily declared the arms seizures unfair, arguing that the only Bosnian soldiers who may have been near the fighting Tuesday would have been refugees seeking to return to homes now held by Serbs. They also said the peace force is failing in its obligation to protect refugees.
Fighting began after Muslim refugees trying to return to the town of Koraj set up camp in the demilitarized zone. Serb police entered the zone with prohibited weapons.
The weapons seized from the Bosnian army were stored in full compliance with the Dayton peace agreement.
Emotions have run high since the skirmish. Several hundred people demonstrated at a Russian checkpoint outside Celic on Wednesday. Bosnian Muslims long have suspected that the Russians harbor sympathy for the Serbs, who, like many Russians, are traditionally Christian Orthodox.