Operation
DUTCHBAT, in spite of its grandiose name, was never really a battalion. The mission consisted of about 450 troops involved in four rotations called Dutchbat I, II, III and IV. The UN troops were armed with personal weapons and machine guns, in accordance with the UN mandate of UNPROFOR. The headquarters were installed in an old battery factory in Potočari, 5 km from Srebrenica. DUTCHBAT used 30 observation posts (OPs) throughout the perimeter of the enclave, mostly consisting of a sandbagged armored car and associated personnel and equipment.
UNPROFOR's mission was the protection of the civilian populace of this Bosniak enclave (dubbed a "secure area" or "safe haven" by the UN) amongst many other places in Bosnia. The Rules of Engagement (ROE) stated that the peacekeepers could only use force for self-defence, counting on air support from NATO to guarantee the success of the mission. Intervening in the fighting was strictly forbidden to all NATO troops, often to their great frustration. DUTCHBAT's zone fell under siege by the VRS, when NATO air forces began bombing the Bosnian Serbs besieging Sarajevo
Read more about this topic: Dutchbat
Famous quotes containing the word operation:
“Waiting for the race to become official, he began to feel as if he had as much effect on the final outcome of the operation as a single piece of a jumbo jigsaw puzzle has to its predetermined final design. Only the addition of the missing fragments of the puzzle would reveal if the picture was as he guessed it would be.”
—Stanley Kubrick (b. 1928)
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—Sydney Smith (1771–1845)