HISTORICAL DATES For Bosnia and Herzegovina, May 2nd is one of the most important days

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - In the modern history of independent Bosnia and Herzegovina, today, May 2nd, is one of the very important dates in the fight for its defense. 

On this day in 1991, preparations for defense began with the establishment of the National Defense Council. The Council is the organizer of the Patriotic League, which represents the beginning of the Army of RBiH. In cooperation with the Patriotic League, units called Bosna were formed and designated by numbers, and were known as the Green Berets. The use of multiple names led to the assumption that each name represented a separate organization, so on the eve of the war, it was often unclear who was actually involved.

The Patriotic League operated under extremely clandestine conditions, so much so that even later high-ranking officers of the ARBiH, Generals Alagić and Muslimović, were unable to connect with them despite their attempts. The Patriotic League generally distrusted officers from the JNA who tried to join the organization, although some officers, such as Sefer Halilović and Mustafa Hajrulahović - Talijan, were appointed to high positions.

At a military consultation in Mehurići near Travnik (February 7-8, 1992), it was established that the Patriotic League had 60 to 70,000 armed members. 

On the second day of May 1992, members of the former Yugoslav People's Army and Bosnian Serb paramilitary forces attempted to enter Sarajevo from the surrounding hills and seize the Presidency of BiH building in Skenderija, as well as other important facilities in the city center, such as the Assembly and the Center Municipality, and eliminate the leadership of the Republic of BiH.

Around the former JNA House, the National Theatre, Skenderija, and Vrbanja Bridge, the citizens of Sarajevo, organized into the Territorial Defense of BiH, along with the Special Unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, opposed them.

Decisive battles took place between 10 AM and 3 PM, with automatic weapons firing, grenades falling, the city losing electricity, water, and food, and the image that went around the world was also of burning trams.

Around 1 PM, armored vehicles and tanks moved towards the Presidency and City Assembly buildings. They were opposed by brave, but inexperienced and very poorly armed defenders - members of the Patriotic League, Vikić's special forces, the Police reserve force, as well as the newly formed Territorial Defense. Fortunately for the citizens of Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the aggressor was pushed back and their plans were thwarted. 

On the day of intense fighting, May 2, 1992, the main post office building in Sarajevo burned down after being shelled by the Serbian aggressor. The facility burned down completely that day.

The fire in the post office was not caused from the outside, but from the inside. The sabotage inside the post office was caused by two postal employees, engineers from Belgrade and Zadar, in order to disable the post office and communication in the Stari Grad and Centar municipalities. The perpetrators were arrested, after which they admitted to setting the fire. In the end, they were exchanged for members of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina who were captured by the aggressor.