United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) and the United Nations Peace Forces (UNPF): the Dutch contribution

UNPROFOR tasks

In Croatia, UNPROFOR had to monitor observance of the January 1992 ceasefire and oversee the demilitarisation of the areas seized by the Croatian Serbs. The UN declared these areas as United Nations Protected Areas (UNPAs). UNPROFOR designated the 4 UNPAs as Sector East (East Slavonia), Sector West (West Slavonia), Sector North and Sector South (around Knin).

UNPROFOR also had to facilitate the safe return of refugees and displaced persons. The war in Croatia started again in January 1993. It was not until 29 March 1994 that the parties agreed to a new ceasefire, which lasted until January 1995.

Dutch military personnel in UNPROFOR

UNPROFOR deployed 12 infantry battalions and one engineer battalion in the Croatian conflict area. Communications between the 12 infantry battalions, the engineer battalion and the headquarters were provided by a Dutch signal battalion, which stationed a communications centre of approximately 11 military personnel at each of these units.

Bosnia

On 8 June, the Security Council expanded the UNPROFOR operations to Bosnia and Herzegovina and in August 1992 called upon member states to do all they could to facilitate humanitarian aid to Sarajevo and other badly affected areas in Bosnia. On the ethnic cleansing and the mass murders being carried out all over Bosnia, mainly by the Bosnian Serbs, the UN remained silent.

Dutch units

3 infantry battalions, each with a Dutch comcen, arrived in Sarajevo in July. In October and November 1992, a British infantry battalion arrived in Vitez, an infantry battalion in Visoko, the Dutch-Belgian transport battalion in Busovaca and, halfway through 1993, a Spanish infantry battalion in Medugorje.

Safe areas

After the UNSC had declared 6 Muslim areas as safe areas in April and May 1993, a French and a Scandinavian infantry battalion – each with a Dutch comcen – were stationed in Velika Kladusa (safe area Bihac) and safe area Tuzla respectively.

Signals personnel no longer needed

In March 1994, the UN started introducing new satellite communications equipment, which meant that the Dutch signals personnel were no longer needed. The unit was disbanded on 1 September 1994.

Transport

The Dutch-Belgian transport battalion (560 personnel) had already been active in Bosnia for 2 years by then. The unit formed the backbone of UNPROFOR's humanitarian relief effort in Bosnia. The battalion was made up of 2 Dutch transport companies and 1 Belgian transport company. The Netherlands also provided the headquarters, headquarters and combat service support company (HH&CSS Coy). The 4 companies were initially based at 3 locations – Busovaca, Santici and Pancevo (near Belgrade, later Santici too). In Split and Zagreb, logistic units stayed behind to support the transport battalion.

Convoys under fire in Bomb Alley

The Dutch aid convoys in Bosnia were protected by UNPROFOR infantry battalions. The infantry battalions were not always able to prevent attacks on the Dutch trucks, however. 10 kilometres of the transport route from Busovaca to Tuzla, between Kladanj and Stupari, ran close to Bosnian Serb positions, from which convoys regularly came under fire. This part of the route was given the apposite name of Bomb Alley.

Deterioration of the security situation

The security situation deteriorated sharply at the end of April 1993. The compounds of the transport battalion in Busovaca and Santici lay right in the front line. The camps were frequently hit by wayward missiles. Travelling in convoys to the nearby towns of Zenica and Travnik was extremely hazardous because of the tyre shooting, a practice popular among the warring parties, while the convoys could only pass through the strategically located city of Gornji Vakuf at top speed because of the snipers.

Ceasefire reduces threat level

The threat in Central Bosnia diminished considerably when the Muslims and Croats in Bosnia agreed to a ceasefire on 23 February 1994 and formed the Muslim-Croat Federation in May. The supply of relief goods dropped significantly at the end of 1994, which meant that the battalion was able to manage with one less transport company. The Dutch Ministry of Defence decided to merge the remaining part of the transport battalion with the Support Command in Lukavac to form a logistic and transport battalion.

Safe areas

At the beginning of 1993, Bosnian Serb units went on the offensive in the east of Bosnia. The Security Council tried to stop them and, in April 1993, declared the heavily besieged Muslim town of Srebrenica a safe area. The UN demanded that the Bosnian Serbs cease their attacks and withdraw from the immediate area of the city. The Security Council then increased the number of safe areas to 6: added to Srebrenica were Sarajevo, Tuzla, Zepa, Gorazde and Bihac, all areas that were under heavy siege by the Bosnian Serbs.

Airmobile infantry

On 7 September 1993, Minister of Defence A.L. ter Beek offered the UN an airmobile infantry battalion for an 18-month period, with its own logistic component (Support Command), comprising in all 1.196 military personnel. Originally supplied for deployment in Central Bosnia, the battalion was ultimately deployed, at the UN’s request, in the isolated safe areas of Srebrenica and Zepa. The Dutch battalion relieved a Canadian company in Srebrenica on 3 March 1994.

Dutchbat

Dutchbat’s task was to make sure that the enclave remained a safe and demilitarised zone. The Muslim units' weapons were, therefore, to be collected in the weapon collection point (WCP). By conducting patrols and manning observation posts, Dutchbat also kept as close an eye as possible on the security situation in the enclave and particularly on the disputed enclave boundaries. Social patrols were also conducted to maintain the contact between Dutchbat and the population.

Locations

An airmobile infantry battalion, consisting of 3 infantry companies, a headquarters and headquarters company and the combat service support company (the 3rd rotation had a combined headquarters, headquarters and combat service support company), formed the core of Dutchbat. The service company, the headquarters and headquarters company and an infantry company set themselves up in a disused battery factory in the town of Potocari, situated in the north of the enclave. Another company moved into a camp in the city of Srebrenica.

Helicopter detachment

The helicopter detachment that had been assigned to Dutchbat as well as the Support Command were based with a Scandinavian medical company at a factory complex (Blue Factory) between Tuzla and Lukavac. The helicopters were withdrawn in September 1994 because the Bosnian Serbs refused permission to fly to Srebrenica. The 3rd – reinforced – infantry company (200-strong) deployed at Tuzla airport instead of Zepa. The company moved to Simin Han in the Sapna Finger at the end of May, where they were responsible for area security and for providing convoy escorts.

Supplies

The Support Command was responsible for supplying Dutchbat. Events on the political or military stage elsewhere in Bosnia gave the Bosnian Serbs cause to deny the supply convoys access to Srebrenica. In response to the NATO bombing of their ‘capital’, Pale, the Bosnian Serbs thus hermetically sealed Srebrenica off from the outside world after 26 May. They also took over the observation post in the extreme south of the enclave on 3 June.

Serb control of Srebrenica safe area

On 6 July, the south of the enclave once again became the target of a Bosnian Serb attack. At first, UNPROFOR thought that the attack would be confined to this part of the enclave, because a strategically important road ran through it, but it soon became clear that the Bosnian Serbs wanted to gain control of the entire safe area. By 11 July, the Serbs were in complete control of the enclave and Dutchbat returned to the Netherlands, via Zagreb, on 21 July.

Mandate

UNPROFOR’s mandate had in the meantime expired on 31 March 1995 and Croatia refused to consent to an extension. The Security Council therefore split UNPROFOR into 3 separate missions, each with its own mandate:

• in Croatia UNCRO (United Nations Confidence Restoration Operation);
• in Bosnia Herzegovina UNPROFOR;
• and in Macedonia UNPREDEP (United Nations Preventive Deployment Force).

Each of the 3 operations had its own commander, who was responsible to the new umbrella headquarters of the United Nations Peace Forces (UNPF) in Zagreb.

Greater UNPROFOR striking power

In the spring, France, the UK and the Netherlands indicated their desire to increase UNPROFOR’s striking power and the Security Council agreed to this in June. The heavily armed Rapid Reaction Force (RRF) arrived in July and August, with a reinforced mortar company from the Marine Corps and an RNLA mortar-locating radar unit (22 men). In the new setting, however, UNPROFOR’s existence was short-lived.

Shift in the balance of power

The successful offensive by Croatia and the MCF in the spring and summer of 1995 and heavy NATO bombardments on the Bosnian Serb army (operation Deliberate Force) in retaliation for the bloody mortar attack on Sarajevo (28 August) brought about a drastic change in the balance of power in Bosnia.

Peace accord

Under pressure from the US, the warring parties agreed to a ceasefire on 14 October 1995 and took part in peace talks in the American town of Dayton, which resulted in the Paris peace accord on 14 December. The parties agreed that UNPROFOR should be replaced on 20 December 1995 by a robust NATO implementation force: IFOR.