General Praljak's War Plans: How to Destroy Travnik with Explosives

When speaking of terrorist acts, one could say that terrorism is most prevalent in war. In the correspondence between HV and HVO General Slobodan Praljak and Colonel Tihomir Blaškić, a small distance from the decision to resort to terrorism and crimes against the civilian population is evident.

On November 3, 1993, Slobodan Praljak, on behalf of the Main Staff of the HVO, issued an order titled “Possibility of Using Explosives”, seeking an answer from Blaškić. This concerns the explosives factory “Vitezit” in Vitez. Praljak writes:

1. Assess the possibility of placing large quantities of explosives towards Travnik and other Muslim positions that would cause significant material damage and casualties if detonated.

2. Determine the quantities of explosives in reserve and report to me.

3. Assess the effects of the activities under point 1 on the enemy, us, and UNPROFOR.

4. The method of mining the factory, the consequences, and whether you have it under control.

Praljak requested that Blaškić report to him immediately on all matters.

Blaškić replies and identifies the area where “Muslim forces and settlements constitute an absolute majority as the area of Bošnjakov gaj in the immediate vicinity of the road from Doca towards Guča Gora”: “I believe that the areas of Polje Slavka Gavrančića, Dolac na Lašvi, Novo Naselje, Grahovik, Kmetići, Guvna, Vakuf, and Travnik itself would be particularly affected by the consequences of the air blast wave. The center of Travnik is about 3.5 kilometers from Bošnjakov gaj. There is a danger that the air strike would also endanger our own forces, settlements in the depth, and UNPROFOR forces in Bila. True, much less than for the mentioned areas,” Blaškić explains to General Praljak.

What are the quantities of explosives available to the HVO of Central Bosnia? Blaškić reveals that they possess 82 thousand kilograms of nitroglycerin and 52 thousand kilograms of powdered TNT. An additional 1,500 kilograms of TNT and 60 thousand kilograms of powdered explosives could be produced.

Blaškić confirms that the effects of the blast wave would cause consequences for the settlements and the city of Travnik where Muslims live, but he warns Praljak that any consequences felt by UNPROFOR units would lead to poor relations with international organizations. Blaškić explained to Praljak that he was capable of mining and destroying the factory within hours.

Mr. Munib Kajmović published this unusual correspondence in his articles, explaining that Vitezit is the largest explosives factory in the Balkans. Kajmović claims that the quantities of explosives discussed have the power of a small atomic bomb. Everyone in Vitez remembers the explosion of a tanker truck that the HVO pushed into Stari Vitez, a predominantly Bosniak settlement, on April 18, 1993. The eastern part of Stari Vitez was destroyed, and a minor earthquake was felt throughout Central Bosnia. The explosives Praljak intended to use to destroy Travnik would have had immeasurably greater power. This would have been an act of terrorism of the kind seen on the battlefields of the East, in Iraq and Syria. He did not dare to destroy Travnik because, in less than a month, final negotiations began, which would ultimately be resolved by the Washington Agreement between Bosniaks and Croats.

Slobodan Praljak, a sudden general, otherwise a theater director, who is on trial in The Hague for a joint criminal enterprise with the Prlić group, discusses the lives of civilians as if in a movie.

Today, the public largely talks about radical Islamic elements, while no one mentions these or similar terrorist plans.