Capture of Vrnograč
| Capture of Vrnograč | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Bosnian War and Intra-Bosnian Muslim War | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| APWB and SVK forces, supported by elements of the VJ and RDB | Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Mile Novaković "Raja" Božović | Atif Dudaković | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
|
Operational Group "Pauk"
|
Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
| ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 5,000 with artillery support | 4,000–5,000 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||||
In the first half of 1995, the important town of Vrnograč in Bosnia and Herzegovina was captured by a combined force known as Operational Group "Pauk" (Spider) (OG "Pauk"), as part of the Bosnian and intra-Bosnian Muslim Wars. The aim of the operation was to eliminate the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) salient just south of the town of Velika Kladuša, then capture Vrnograč, which is located about 12 km (7.5 mi) east of Velika Kladuša.
OG "Pauk" was commanded by General Mile Novaković of the Army of the Republic of Serb Krajina (SVK), leading troops contributed by: the unrecognised breakaway proto-state within Bosnia and Herzegovina known as the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia (APWB); and the Republic of Serb Krajina (RSK) – an unrecognised breakaway proto-state inside Croatia on the adjacent border with Bosnia and Herzegovina – along with small numbers of elite Yugoslav Army (VJ) and Serbian State Security (RDB) special operations troops. They were opposed by the 5th Corps of the ARBiH commanded by Atif Dudaković.
The fighting dragged on from January to June, and consisted almost entirely of unrelenting fighting in which the ARBiH defenders were slowly pushed back by OG "Pauk" which had a considerable firepower advantage. A series of villages in the Velika Kladuša region fell, eventually the defenders could no longer hold Vrnograč, and on 21 June they withdrew 2 km (1.2 mi) past the town where they established a new defensive line. Fighting in the area recommenced in July.