Battle of Lisača

The Battle for Lisača was fought during the Bosnian War. A part of the Majevica Front, the battle was one of the most important for the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina for regaining territory as Lisača held various needed points. It resulted in a victory for the Bosnian Muslims.

Battle for Lisača
Part of the Majevica front (1992-1995) during the Bosnian War
Date 8 November 1994 Location Lisača, Majevica, Bosnia and Herzegovina Result ARBiH Victory Lisača falls into control of the ARBiH Continued Serb Presence
Belligerents
Republika Srpska	Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Commanders and leaders
Radovan Karadžić Momir Zec	Šemsudin Muminović
Units involved
Army of Republika Srpska 1st Majevica Brigade	ARBiH 2nd Corps
Strength
7000 men	8000 men
Casualties and losses
Unknown	61 Surrendered

Prelude

Mountain Majevica and its highest peak Stolice (916 meters), for the 2nd Corps of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, from the very beginning of the war, represented one of the primary war objectives that had to be liberated. The capture of the radio tower in Stolice, which represented a vital communication point, was crucial, from where a telephone and television signal was provided for the entire area of northeastern Bosnia, which was under the control of the Army of the Republika Srpska. At the same time, the VRS controlled almost all free territories from the mountain with artillery. That area was defended by the "Majevica" tactical group of the East Bosnian Corps of the VRS under the command of Colonel Momir Zec, with a total strength of about 7,000 fighters. Across from them stood Operative Group 4 and Operative Group 5 from the composition of the 2nd Corps of the ARBiH with a total strength of about 8,000 fighters. During April and May 1994, the 2nd Corps of the ARBiH carried out several actions on the Stolica relay and on that occasion damaged the communication link, after which the telephone and television content was suspended, but the attempts to seize the relay itself remained unfulfilled. The situation on Majevica during the summer months was relatively calm, with three minor attacks by the 2nd Corps of the ARBiH, which were retaliated by heavy artillery bombardment of Tuzla and Kalesija.

The Battle

At the beginning of November, the ARBiH launched its first serious attack, after six months, with the aim of seizing the capital's radio relay. The introductory part of the attack followed a little earlier, in mid-October, when a group of ARBiH saboteurs broke into the interior of the Serbian lines in order to find the enemy's weaknesses. The main attack began on November 8 and by November 13 the units of the 2nd Corps managed to liberate several important points such as Velika and Mala Jelica, but the highest peak was not captured again. Nevertheless, despite the general failure, the offensive will be remembered for the Battle of Lisača, in which the forces of the 2nd Corps of the ARBiH will completely surround 75 members of the VRS. In the onslaught of units of the 2nd Corps, the Serbian army did not retreat from Lisača because it represented an important elevation in the direction of Kalesi - the Stolica relay, and it was only a kilometer away from the relay itself. From it, they also had optical visibility towards Kalesija, Dubrave airport and a large part of Sprečanska dolina. On the other hand, Lisača was of exceptional importance to the 2nd Corps, because its liberation would provide excellent conditions for the liberation of the Vis elevation, which is located towards Kalesija. The 241st Sprečan - Muslim, 242nd Liberation Zvornik, 206th Viteška Zvornik, 1st Teočan and 205th Kalesian brigades participated in the battles for Lisača. With the liberation of the Plateau between Mala Jelica and Lisača by the 241st Sprečan-Muslim Brigade and Senokos, Lisača was completely surrounded. After that, the ARBiH units did not carry out serious actions on the hill itself because the assumption was that the surrounded VRS forces would surrender, and also because of the very fact that the terrain was interspersed with bunkers and trenches and a circular defense established by the besieged Serbian soldiers. The first negotiations took place on November 11, and the main negotiator for the Serbian side was Vesko Mitrović. He demanded to enable the unhindered withdrawal of his forces via Mala Jelica, while the ARBiH demanded that the VRS withdraw from Kolijevka and completely from Mala Jelica in return. Mitrović said that he would consult with his superiors about the offer. However, the Serbian side was already heavily preparing a counteroffensive in order to unblock the besieged fighters. At the same time, VRS helicopters tried to deliver food and water to the besieged fighters at night, but without much success, delivering only about 10 kilograms of bread and some canned goods. Every such overflight came under fire from members of the ARBiH. The very next day, November 12, a series of fierce attacks by the VRS began, which will last for the next six days. However, the main attack was foiled already on November 14, when the commander of the Special Unit of the First Posavina Brigade of the VRS, which formed the backbone of the attack, Boško Perić, was killed in an attempt to unblock the Serbian fighters. During the fighting, the famous ''Chetnik duke'' Mitar Maksimović, who commanded the "Lions of Manda" unit, was also wounded. Attacks of lesser intensity continued in the following period (about 60 in total), but they were all repelled. The aggressor vented his anger at the inability to unblock his fighters with artillery shelling of Tuzla, Teocak and Kalesija. The blackest day was November 18, when two boys from Tuzla, Enes Hodzic (13) and Asmir Hodzic (15), sons of Asim Hodzic and Ismet Hodzic, died as a result of shelling, while Emir Hodzic was wounded. During the fighting that lasted until November 25, according to their sources, the VRS had 60 dead fighters. After a series of attacks, the Serbian side had no more rested forces to launch new attacks, and the besieged fighters definitely decided to surrender, after two hours of negotiations with Rusmir Hasanović, deputy platoon commander in the 241st brigade, and Mirsad Ikanović. In the end, 61 members of the VRS surrendered, including four wounded fighters who were treated immediately by ARBIH doctors, while seven fighters from the surrounding area died during the fighting. All were taken care of by the Tuzlan Red Cross. About 100 barrels of infantry weapons, one PAM and six mortars were captured. The free territory was expanded by 5 km2.

Aftermath

After the battle, the Command of the 2nd Corps of the ARBiH issued a "Communication to the mothers, fathers, children and wives of captured Serbian soldiers not to worry about their fate, because the ARBiH treats prisoners in the spirit of the Geneva and other international conventions on prisoners of war and respects all provisions of international humanitarian law . The command of the 2nd Corps also tells Serbian mothers not to send their children to the ranks of Radovan Karadzic's ''fascist'' army, which is committing war crimes against its Bosniak and Croat neighbors. Serbian mothers must know that no one guarantees their children that they will be lucky enough to be captured by members of the ARBiH, or that they will surrender themselves. This is confirmed by the fact that 19 members of Karadžić's paramilitary formations were killed in the last three days of fighting on Lisača alone."