20 years since Operation Deliberate Force: The day NATO moved to confront the aggressor in BiH

Tomorrow marks the 20th anniversary of Operation Deliberate Force, an air campaign by the NATO alliance aimed at disabling the Serb military arsenal in the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the operation, which lasted from August 30 to September 20, 1995, eight allied states participated, 3,515 flights were conducted, and 1026 bombs were dropped, writes the Patria News Agency.

The operation was initiated by the NATO alliance as a response to the difficult situation in BiH. Although it was planned and officially approved by the NATO Council back in July 1995, the operation was launched as a direct response to the second massacre at Sarajevo's Markale market on August 28, 1995, as it was determined that the mine that killed 43 people in Sarajevo came from Serb aggressor positions around the city.

The aircraft participating in the operation flew from a military base in Italy and the American aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt. 68 percent of the bombs used in the operation were of the "precision-guided munitions" type.

The Serb air defense system, consisting of aircraft and anti-aircraft artillery, made the operation a dangerous undertaking. On August 30, 1995, a French Mirage 2000 fighter jet was shot down by Serb anti-aircraft artillery. Nevertheless, the operation was effective in bringing the Serbs to the negotiating table.