Night of April 17/18, '92: "Pretis" Operation Was Crucial for the Defense of Sarajevo and BiH

In the night of April 17 to 18, 1992, the "Pretis" operation was carried out, which is considered crucial for the defense of Sarajevo and the state of BiH, writes the Patria News Agency.

Members of the Special Unit of the MUP of the Republic of BiH, about 30 of them, organized with the help of combined Territorial Defense units, the removal of weapons from the premises of the "Pretis" factory in Vogosca.  

In a very well-organized operation, without a single shot fired between three and five in the morning, the special forces of Dragan Vikic and Kemal Ademovic extracted 1,100 anti-tank missiles and a truckload of mortar shells, which would later prove crucial for the defense of the city.

Amidst the general chaos reigning in the city and due to the poor communication system and weak coordination of the city's defenders, Safet Hazic decided to extract more weapons the next day, April 18, with his group before the JNA and SDS formations completely closed the ring around Sarajevo.

Unaware that Serbian forces had already occupied the "Pretis" factory, a group of armed members of the Patriotic League and members of the Territorial Defense of BiH set off in a van towards Vogosca.

Safet had no weapons. When they reached the gate, they were showered with gunfire. Safet was the first to be hit.

Sead Velic, Nermin Zeljkovic, Fahrudin Cavcic, Almir Islamovic, and Senad Ciric were also killed in this operation.

A monument to Safet Hadzic and his comrades has been erected at the site near where they died, at the entrance to "Pretis". A monument has also been erected in front of the Novi Grad Municipality in Sarajevo in honor of Safet Hadzic.