Operation Sana 95: Dudaković and Alagić's push towards Banja Luka halted by the Dayton Agreement

21 years ago, on September 13, Operation Sana 95 began. After midnight, units of the 502nd Knightly Mountain Brigade entered Bosanski Petrovac, where large quantities of weapons were captured, writes the Patria News Agency.

The next day, the commander of the Fifth Corps, General Atif Dudaković, ordered the advance towards Ključ.

Units of the 510th Liberation Brigade, which had been engaged in successful battles on the Begova Glava-Veliki Ljutoč-Dubovsko-Vrtoče-Bosanski Petrovac axis, began the liberation of the town.

Marching for a full 11 hours, they covered 40 kilometers while fighting the aggressor. This unit secured the left flank, enabling the advance of the 517th Glorious Mountain Brigade towards Sanski Most, while the 510th Glorious and 501st Glorious Mountain Brigades advanced towards Ključ.

After fierce fighting in Lanište, Velagići, and Pudin Han, around 9 PM, units of the 501st and 510th Mountain Brigades victoriously entered Ključ.

Already the next day, in the early morning hours, the 510th Glorious Mountain Brigade advanced towards Sanski Most. In Donji Ramići, the Zvornik Brigade was routed, and fierce fighting also took place in the Krasulje area, after which Vrhpolje was also liberated.

The legendary 17th Knightly Krajina Brigade from the Seventh Corps of the Army of BiH, led by General Mehmed Alagić, arrived via Drvar. It was only a matter of time before the two corps and two Krajina generals would link up.

The period from September 18 to October 10 was characterized by Serbian forces attempting to halt the advance of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina units at all times, using all available manpower, artillery, and armored-mechanized forces.

Continuously engaged in combat, on the evening of October 9, around 11:30 PM, elements of the 502nd Knightly Mountain Brigade and the Fifth Corps' Armored Personnel Carriers crossed the bridge over the Sana River and entered the city center. The enemy still offered fierce resistance from the city post office, but not for long. Shortly after the liberation of the city, other units from the Fifth and Seventh Corps of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina arrived from other directions, continuing the fighting.

The operation Sana 95 also involved members of the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Corps, as well as the Guards Brigade and the Black Swans unit, which were under the direct command of the General Staff of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Intelligence data indicated that extraordinary conditions had been created for the liberation of Bosanski Novi, Prijedor, Bosanska Gradiška, Bosanska Kostajnica, and Banja Luka. The Dayton Agreement saved the aggressor forces from defeat.