Bangladesh UN Contingent Peacekeeping Mission in

Bosnia- Herzegovina
thedailystar.net/supplements/bangladesh-un-contingent-peacekeeping-mission-bosnia-herzegovina-1539982

February 26, 2018

Serving for peace

Bangladesh UN peacekeeping operation

Brig Gen Salim Akhtar ndc, psc (Retd)

Mon Feb 26, 2018 12:00 AM

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE CONFLICT

Bosnia-Herzegovina (BH) was part of the former Balkan state of Yugoslavia. After the
Allied victory in World War II, Yugoslavia was set up as a federation of six republics with
borders drawn along ethnic and historical lines demarcating republics of Bosnia-
Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Serbia.

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The country had three large ethnic communities: (1) Bosnians- Muslims; (2) Croats-
Catholic Christians; and, (3) Serbs-Orthodox Christians. Bosnia, being part of the old
Ottoman empire, had a Muslim majority population. After the death of President Josip
Broz Titoin 1980, internal political turmoil fueled by the fall of the other communist
regimes in Eastern Europe, the state of Yugoslavia started to break up into smaller
independent states. Map below shows the breakup and formation of the new republics.

FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLICS

Green - Slovenia

Pink - Croatia

Purple - Serb Republic in Croatia

Grey - Bosnia Herzegovina at the time of declaration of independence

Red - Serbia

Brown- Macedonia

In a 1991 census, population of Bosnia (Grey Portion) of some 4 million comprised of 44

percent Bosnians, 31 percent Serbs, and 17 percent Croats. In April 1992, Bosnia-
Herzegovina (Muslims) declared its independence from Yugoslavia and this started off
what we know as the Bosnia war. Over the next several years, Bosnian Serb forces, with
the backing of the Serb-dominated Yugoslav army, targeted both Bosnian Muslims and
Croatian Catholic Christiansresulting in the deaths of some 100,000 people by Dec 1995,
when the war ended under 'Dayton Peace Accord'. It was the worst act of genocide in
Europe since the Nazi regime's killing of some 6 million European Jews during World War
II.

With both the European union and UN efforts failing to stop the killing and the ethnic
cleansing, the international community agreed to deploy UN Peacekeepers.What most
people do not know even today is that, the UN Peace Keeping mission was launched in
Bosnia without UN Security Council Peacekeeping mandate simply because the big
powers could not agree on a common agenda. As I understand, the OIC had played an
active diplomatic role for making the Europeans accept UN Peacekeepers from non-
European nations, especially from the Muslim countries. In addition to a unit from Kenya,
non-European countries that contributed peacekeepers were Bangladesh, Malaysia and
Pakistan.

The Bangladesh contingent was assigned to an area, called Bihac, on the north-east tip
of Drvar, east of Banja Luka, a small Muslim enclave surrounded by Serbs on all sides.
The French battalion that had been for some two years in Bihac, did not wish to continue
any longer. In 1993, I led a team of officers for the reconnaissance mission to assess the
situation and the logistic needs for placement of a contingent of Bangladesh
peacekeepers and its sustenance.

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Bosnia is known for its freezing and wet winters which appeared to me as a big challenge
as none of our soldiers had any experience of living under snow conditions, apart from
the fact that Bangladesh army was not equipped for operating in freezing winter
conditions, which demand special clothing, special equipment and winter- survival
knowledge. On our return, a report was submitted with a long list of specialized
equipment for such situations, including winter clothing. Much of these are now on the
standard list of Bangladesh UN equipment.

Deployment of peacekeeping units from Muslim countries was put on hold in 1993, as
many European nations objected to their deployment in Bosnia- Herzegovina, and later
struggled to find locations where these incoming units could be placed. I state this very
sensitive aspect of the conflict only after having seen such documents and having come
across such comments personally. In Bangladesh, the infantry battalion that was
mobilized for Bosnia was later sent for Kuwait mission and I opted not to go for the Kuwait
mission to continue my teaching assignment at the Staff College Mirpur.

The situation on the ground was getting worse that demanded additional troops, which
NATO countries were unable to commit. As such, I believe, under the OIC initiative, the
1994 decision to insert peacekeepers from outside Europe including the Muslim nations
was cleared.

Bangladesh was asked to confirm readiness to insert a mechanized infantry battalion

within 45 days and, not surprisingly, Bangladesh agreed. In mid 1994, I was a Colonel
and officiating commander of an infantry brigade in the north. I was called and asked to
take charge and start the mobilizing and training effort in order to be able to send the
contingent immediately. I took charge of the battalion in Savar and started the work of
reorganizing, re-equipping and training. BTRs (APC), which is in such abundance now in
the army, was not to be found in 1994. Hence, arrangements were made with UN to
provide specialized equipment including APCs, and organize training of the APC crews.
Solution came with UN retrieving of surplus equipment, stores and winter uniforms of the
East German Army from the stock warehouses of a very large training facility of the old
Soviet Union in Slovakia. We assembled the training team of about 100 plus people who
were sent about a month ahead to Slovakia to train and take over the equipment. Since I
had already arrived with an advanced team in Zagreb, Croatia, I along with a Danish
Army officer drove via Hungary to Slovakia. The Danish officer found it hard to
understand why Col. Salim, his companion, with a blue beret and UN ID had to undergo
visa processes while entering Hungary and again at the Slovakia borders. Since I was
carrying a non-European passport, I could well understand the issue! I shared some of
that long drives and the experience of driving across the borders, and specially going
through Budapest was nice and enjoyable.

Training camp in Slovakia was

impressive and gave me a
picture of how much the old
Soviet Union had stocked and
prepared for a war with NATO
that never came. We ended up

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using part of that equipment. By
August 1994, the battalion
arrived and camped at Zagreb,
Croatia. We stayed about a
month at camp Pleso in Zagreb,
sharing facilities with soldiers
mostly from NATO countries.
The time was used for training,
sorting out logistics with the UN
and obtaining driving licenses.
The training team from Slovakia
along with BTR-70s, generators
and a host of other equipment
arrived in Zagreb by train.
Unloading the trains was an
experience. Unlike the practice
of unloading through ramps in
Bangladesh, the APCs and
ARVs simply turned and drove
onto the station platform and
drove out of the station. I spent
the day shuttling between the
station and the camp. The
unloading job continued for the
whole day . We received two
trainloads of something like 68
APCs (BTR70s), few tracked
ARVs, a large number of trailer-
mounted generators and other
equipment. Arrival of equipment
from Bangladesh got delayed asBANBAT C.O Col. Salim with the French C.O.
a result of transshipment at port
of Alexandria, Egypt, where they
could not find ship in time for
Croatia.

Operations in Bosnia were primarily a NATO-run operations, which later came under the
flag of UN Peacekeepers, but in reality what I witnessed was: NATO continued its firm
hold with the French and the British playing the lead role in all decision making.
Interestingly, Americans were kept out of all operational decision-making process.
Towards the end of 1994, when situation was getting bad and plans were being discussed
to extract UN Peacekeepers, US Navy Adriatic Fleet was given the responsibility to
extract BANBAT in case of need. Though the US Naval officers discussed events with me
on telephone, they were not allowed to attend to my briefing.

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UN operations planned for the Bangladesh battalion to replace the French battalion in the
Muslim enclave of Bihac, because the French had given a deadline for their pull-out date,
which forced the UN operations to push in the Bangladesh battalion without waiting for
the ship-load of equipment to arrive, which was being delayed due to transshipment at
Alexandria, Egypt.

The Bangladesh contingent that I was given to command consisted of one infantry
battalion, workshop detachment, medical detachment including dental, signals
detachment and logistic support elements. As a contingent commander my big concern
was adequate driving skills of APC drivers and the ability of all our drivers to drive,
including soft vehicles, under snow condition to start with. In Bosnia, a large number of
fatalities came from vehicle accidents during the winter months, the dreaded 'black-ice' on
mountain roads.

Sometime in early Sep. 1994, the first convoy comprising of APCs and trucks with
soldiers left for Bihac' under UN MP escort (Danish MP unit). As the convoy was driving
through the city roads within the first few kilometers, one of our APC crushed a civilian car
under its belly. Fortunately, the car driver survived and UN took care of the incident. Our
convoy moved on, and finally reached the destination doing about 100 km in about 12
hours. BANBAT insertion was complete with four convoys on follow-up dates with some of
the weapons being airlifted on MI-26 helicopters. With the arrival of BANBAT, the French
battalion withdrew around mid-Sept., handing over the operational responsibility to
BANBAT.

By 3rd week of Sept., 1994 when Bosnian forces around Sarajevo and central Bosnia
were under intense attack by Serb forces, the Bosnian Army 5 Corp Commander in Bihać
decided to attack the Serb forces around Bihac' to relieve pressure from central Bosnia.
This break out by Bosnian forces from Bihać resulted in significant defeat of Serb forces
and substantial loss of Serb territory. Bosnian forces from Bihać not only captured a huge
ares of land, but also captured a lot of equipment from the retreating Serb forces,
including tanks and artillery guns. Success of the Bosnian forces from Bihać caused the
Serb forces to link the change in the battle field scenario to arrival of BANBAT in the area.
We even experienced UN Observers from the West looking upon BANBAT with
suspicious eyes. With this came the total blockade by the Serbs on all supply convoys
destined for BANBAT, including total restrictions on helicopter lifts. About Nov – Dec
1994, BANBAT experienced some 10 weeks of total blockade including food supplies.
Fortunately for BANBAT, the French battalion which was oversupplied, had left behind
many containers of combo food packs, warehouse of other tinned food items and water
packs, which came to good use. However, some of these food packs had pork content
which caused some discontent among our soldiers. Under severe food crisis BANBAT
learnt to adapt with whatever was available. BANBAT had carried a small quantity of rice,
dal and few other dry item; it was under these circumstances I learned that food habit can
seriously affect morale. Under the self-imposed rationing, I allowed rice, 'dal'(lentil-soup)
and 'aloo bhorta'(mashed potatoes)once a week on Sundays. And with such a meal,
which had much less calorie value than the combo pack, people were all in smiles and
high morale.

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BANBAT was positioned at three camps and a few forward OPs (observation posts).
Camp accommodation was based on pre-fab containers, with each camp generating its
own electric power for the heating, which was life's essential need. Camps and the OPs
were subjected to frequent shooting and shelling and many of us, in vehicles or APCs,
have experienced being hit. I can recall on one occasion when I was crossing Serb vs
Bosnian confrontation line, my vehicle took about 6 hits from small arms. Sometime in
Dec 1994, one of our APCs was hit twice by Serb-fired ATGM with the gun turret blowing
away and Sainik Ismail was killed with few others injured. Once when the camp was still
under fire, I was offered NATO air strike but instead of asking for the air strike, I asked for
immediate ceasefire which allowed me to evacuate the wounded to US Army MASH in
Zagreb. As I look back now, this decision may have saved many lives on that day by
allowing the situation to calm down. If I had approved the NATO air strike on Serb
positions at the time, that would have certainly caused the situation to flare up, denying
chances for evacuation of wounded Bangladesh soldiers. I have to say that many of our
young officers held their positions under intense fire beyond the call of duty. I can recall
one occasion when a young captain with his APC team were manning a position that
came under intense fire from the Serbs, as they were shelling the Bosnian positions
nearby, but BANBAT team did not abandon its position and kept reporting on the situation
which was the prime requirement for the peace keepers. I received numerous letters of
appreciation from Force Commander, General Smith of UK, to a number of operational
staffs from UNPROFOR headquarters, who were deeply appreciating the professionalism
of Bangladesh soldiers.

During our mission we faced a very hostile Western media including CNN. In
consequence, I had to go on a number of interviews with medias like BBC, SKY TV UK,
Peter Jennings Show ABC TV USA and a number of papers like LA Times and
Philadelphia Times as part of my struggle to fight the negative media campaign against
BANBAT.

According to my judgement, the European nations were upset with BANBAT because hey
came to believe wrongfully that the battlefield losses of the Serbs were somehow linked
to the arrival of the BANBAT in the area, and this is not what the lead European nations
wanted to see. War in Bosnia continued for five years or so, simply because two of the
leading European nations had a clear political objective to let the war continue till Bosnia
lives no longer as a Muslim majority country in the heart of Christian Europe. This was the
prime reason for enforcing arms embargo on the Bosnians while the Serbs were getting
free supply of weapons from elements of the Serbian army.

War in Bosnia ended with territories divided as shown on the map below which served
well with the political objective of certain European nations: Fragmented Bosnia-
Herzegovina. Bosnia-Herzegovina now consists of three political entities in clearly
separated areas with their own governments. The Bosnians (Muslims) areas marked in
light grey, Croat (Catholic Christians) areas marked in pink and Serbs (Orthodox
Christians) areas marked in deep purple.

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One may ask what did BANBAT achieve during its mission in Bosnia? BANBAT has kept
the UN flag flying many times under some very adverse circumstances, while at the same
time, under similar conditions, some European battalions, including one NATO battalion,
gave away the area under them to the advancing Serbs. One may recall the massacre
Serb forces carried out in enclaves of Zepa and Srebrenica after the UN battalion
surrendered to the belligerents. Bangladesh battalion stood up against every odds with
meagre supplies and soldiers who had never seen anything like a European winter. On
the quiet, many NATO officers confided to me that most European battalions would have
refused to continue under the atrocious conditions that BANBAT survived and held on to
its positions. Credit goes to the absolute tenacity and courage of the Bangladesh soldiers
and young officers who served under my leadership and delivered what I asked for under
any condition.

To relieve the battlefield stress for Bangladesh Army, we were possibly the only battalion
that arranged seven chartered flights for a one month vacation to Bangladesh for the
soldiers and officers.

I salute all the young officers and soldiers who served under my command, gladly
accepting tasks which often put their lives at risk.

The writer was Bosnia Mission Contingent Commander.

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