Draft:Operation Angela

Operation Angela was the code name of the HVO operation to recapture Odžak. The reason why the HVO operation was suspended was because they had very few soldiers, and also because the VRS hit back with a very strong blow.

Operation Angela
Part of Bosnian War
Date 5. November 1993. Location Around Odžak Result Army of Republika Srpska Succesfully Defended Odžak
Belligerents
Army of Republika Srpska	Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia
Commanders and leaders
Mile Beronja	Toma Božić
Units involved
2nd Krajina Brigade	Unknown
Strength
Unknown	175
Casualties and losses
Unknown	11 killed 7 captured

Long after the fall of Odzak, HVO fighters from Odžak were in Orašje, on the Oraš-Šamača front line. For months, they asked the assembly area to release Odžak, but they never received that permission. They knew that the VRS did not have any strong forces in the area and that liberation was feasible.

Тimeline of Battle

Finally, they decided and went into action. On their own, they crossed the Sava in boats and set out to liberate the occupied territory. On the foggy night of November 5, 1993, 175 members of the 102nd Infantry Brigade of the Odžak HVO under the command of Toma Božić forced their way across the Sava near Svilaja from the territory of the Republic of Croatia in an attempt to liberate the Odžak part of Bosanska Posavina. They crossed the Sava and entered the territory of Odžak municipality. In some places, they penetrated up to 10 km deep, because there was no greater concentration of Serbian forces there. The Serbian action was not absent. Slavonian villages were shelled for revenge. Serbian infantry forces from the reserve were raised to a higher level of readiness and for a greater reaction. The reinforcement of the Army of Republika Srpska is coming and it promises to strike. Because of all this, the members of the brigade called for them to abandon the plan, that is, on the orders of their superiors on the other side of Sava Save that they must return. In addition, because of that action, the lives of Croatian civilians from Kakanj and Vareša who found refuge in Republika Srpska after Muslim forces drove them out of their homes, that is, after fleeing from Muslim forces, came into question. Among other things, that is why the decision was made to abandon this action. After that, they stayed in Orašje for 3 years and there was never an order to go and free . 11 members of the HVO were killed in the action and 7 members were captured, some of them were changed, but only in 1995.

References

Category:1993 in Bosnia and Herzegovina Category:Battles of the Bosnian War Category:History of Republika Srpska