Army of Republika Srpska
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Bosnian Serb Army, officially Army of the Republika Srpska (Serbian Војска Републике Српске/Vojska Republike Srpske, ВРС/VRS) is the military of the Bosnian Serb political entity of Republika Srpska.
The Bosnian Serb Army was founded in 1992 from the forces of the old Yugoslav People's Army, the army of former Communist Yugoslavia from which Bosnia and Herzegovina had seceded the same year.
The army counted some 80,000 personnel during the Bosnian War (1992-1995). It was officially composed only of officers and recruits born on the territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina, predominantly of Serb Orthodox cadre. There were also a few Muslims part of it who were sympathetic to the Serbs' cause, mostly from the area of Teslić and Derventa (major Ismet Đuherić and 'Meša Selimović' brigade) in the north of the country. The army formations that fought for Republika Srpska also included various military and paramilitary units from Serbia and Montenegro.
The military leader of BSA was general Ratko Mladić, who is now indicted at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) of war crimes but is not apprehended.
External links
- Army of Republic of Srpska / Vojska Republike Srpske (http://www.vojska.net/military/bih/vrs/)
- Badges and patches (http://www.geocities.com/ljubomladjenov/RS_army.html)
- ICTY indictment against Ratko Mladic (http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/mla-ai021010e.htm)de:Vojska Republike Srpske