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Operation Autumn '94
	Part of the Bosnian War
	; The front in late Autumn 1994. Operation Autumn '94 is rapresented by the 2 green arrows south-east of Mostar.
Date	11–20 November 1994
Location	Vranjevići, Podvelež and Velež, near Mostar, BiH
Result	Army of Republika Srpska victory
Belligerents
Republika Srpska	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Commanders and leaders
Zoran Perković	Ramiz Dreković; Nezim "Muderis" Halilović (WIA); Esad Humo
Units involved
Army of Republika Srpska Herzegovina corps (Army of Republika Srpska);	Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina 4th Corps 41st Mostar Brigade; 4th Muslim Liberation Brigade "Škorpioni"; ; Patriotic League Black Swans; ;
Strength
About 4,000 men	2,600 men
Casualties and losses
22 killed; 217 wounded; 3 captured	200+ killed; Hundreds wounded; 113 captured

The Operation Autumn '94 (in Bosnian: Operacija Jesen '94), also called the Second Mitrovdan offensive (in Serbian Latin: Druga mitrovdanska ofanziva; in Serbian Cyrillic: Друга митровданска офанзива) was an operation carried out by the ARBiH against the VRS during the Bosnian War, with the goal of taking control over Podvelež and Velež, south-east of Mostar.^[6]

Background

Throughout 1994, Bosniak forces in Herzegovina directed their attacks on the Herzegovina Corps of the Army of Republika Srpska during the Siege of Mostar. Since the Bosniak army lacked armored vehicles and large-calibre weapons but was far more numerous in infantry, the ARBiH developed the doctrine of inserting large sabotage groups into the rear of the VRS. After the October unsuccessful attacks on Konjic, which was defended by the 2nd Herzegovina Brigade of the VRS, the ARBiH shifted its focus to the Mostar–Nevesinje direction, launching the operation codenamed Autumn '94. However, the operation was planned poorly and the VRS already knew about it, so they inserted some defences.^[7]

Operation Autumn '94

The ARBiH began preparing the attack by inserting 1,000 saboteurs, part of the Black Swans unit,^[8] behind the lines of the VRS 8th Motorized Brigade on November 9. Part of the saboteurs were already found by a group of about 20 fighters in the area of Bruska on that same evening. During the following clashes, 113 fighters of the second battalion of the 41st Mostar Brigade of the ARBiH were encircled, and then captured after the commander of the 8th Motorized Brigade Zoran Purkovic ordered a circular defense and increased vigilance.^[5] The following night, more saboteurs continued to insert, but they were met with fierce fire by the Serbian fighters. The battle broke out on November 11, when the ARBiH launched a frontal attack, but the VRS fighters defended all positions, especially in the village of Banjdol. By the end of the day, the ARBiH began to retreat, while minor skirmishes with broken Bosniak groups continued in the following days, that were all repelled.^[5]

References

^ Balkan Battlegrounds: A Military History of The Yugoslav Wars. Central Intelligence Agency. p. 496.
^ ^a ^b Šefko Hodžić (2007). Operation Autumn '94. Sarajevo: DES.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Remembrance of the Mitrovdan battles in 1992 and 1994 on the Nevesin battlefield". Jadovno 1941 (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 2023-07-14.
^ ^a ^b "ZORAN JANJIĆ - TO MEET MITROVDAN (3): The Second Mitrovdan Offensive - the battle that determined the outcome of the war". kk.rks-gov.net (in Serbian). 2020-11-13. Archived from the original on 2024-02-23.
^ ^a ^b ^c Zoran Janjic (2017). The Nevesin Brigade in the 1992-1995 war. Nevesinje. p. 395. ISBN 978-99938-722-9-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ Balkan Battlegrounds: A Military History of the Yugoslav Conflict, 1990-1995. Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Russian and European Analysis. 2002. p. 496. ISBN 978-0-16-066472-4.
^ Balkan Battlegrounds: A Military History of the Yugoslav Conflict, 1990-1995. Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Russian and European Analysis. 2002. p. 496. ISBN 978-0-16-066472-4.
^ Balkan Battlegrounds: A Military History of the Yugoslav Conflict, 1990-1995. Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Russian and European Analysis. 2002. p. 496. ISBN 978-0-16-066472-4.

Books

Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Russian and European Analysis (2002). Balkan Battlegrounds: A Military History of the Yugoslav Conflict, 1990–1995, Volume 2. Washington, D.C.: Central Intelligence Agency. ISBN 978-0-16-066472-4.
Ilić, Dragoslav. Republika Srpska in the Defensive-Patriotic War. Banja Luka: Republic Center for Research on War, War Crimes and Search for Missing Persons, 2018. ISBN 978-99976-730-1-5.
Janjić, Zoran. The Nevesin Brigade in the 1992-1995 war. Невесиње. ISBN 978-99938-722-9-0.