www.balkanpeace.org<\/b><\/p>\n
Analysis of the part played in the Bosnian conflict (1992-95) by the 7th Bosnian\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Muslim Brigade, based in Zenica – the international Islamic mercenary force\u00a0<\/span><\/b>known as the mujahedeen<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “… The first and foremost of such conclusions is surely the one on\u00a0<\/span><\/i>the incompatibility of Islam and non-Islamic systems. There can be no peace\u00a0<\/span><\/i>or <\/i>coexistence between the “Islamic faith” and non- Islamic societies and<\/i>political institutions. … Islam clearly excludes the right and possibility<\/i>of activity of any strange ideology on its own turf. Therefore, there\u00a0<\/span><\/i>is no question of any laicistic principles, and the state should be an\u00a0<\/span><\/i>expression and should support the moral concepts of the religion. …”\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n (page 22\u00a0 <\/span>“The Islamic Declaration” book (“Islamska deklaracija”), written by\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Alija Izetbegovic, Bosnian Muslim leader.)<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In preparing the ground for the conflicts between Bosnian Cristians\u00a0<\/span>(Croats and Serbs) and Bosnian Muslims, residents of different Arab countries\u00a0<\/span>who in the B&H had recognized the elements and challenge of \u201ca holy war\u201d – jihad.<\/p>\n Coming from different Arab countries, most of them were from Yemen,\u00a0<\/span>Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia and Afghanistan, and bringing with them experience from\u00a0<\/span>a war from some of the Islamic trouble spots.<\/p>\n Mujahedin, or \u2018holy warriors\u2019, is a generic term for Muslim volunteers\u00a0fighting in the former Yugoslavia. Many Mujahedin originate from Muslim\u00a0countries outside the former Yugoslavia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It was reported that the Mujahedin began arriving in BiH as early as June 1992.\u00a0<\/span>(Tom Post & Joel Brand, \u2018Helpfrom the Holy Warriors\u2019, Newsweek, 5 October\u00a0<\/span><\/i>1992, at 52).\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Reports on the number of Mujahedin forces operating in BiH vary, but it is unlikely\u00a0<\/span>that the Mujahedin forces have made a significant military contribution to\u00a0<\/span>the BiH Government’s war effort (Christopher Lockwood, \u2018Muslim Nations\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Offer Troops\u2019, Daily Telegraph, 14 July 1993, at 14.)\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n According to Lockwood, Muslim nations depended on Western logistical\u00a0<\/span>support to deliver troops to BiH. He concludes that the same logistical troubles\u00a0<\/span>which kept the Muslim troopspromised in July of 1993 from joining UN forces in\u00a0<\/span>the UN declared \u2018safe havens\u2019 also limited the number of Muslim volunteers in\u00a0<\/span>the BiH armed forces. He states that the number of Mujahedin in BiH never exceeded\u00a0<\/span>three or four hundred. (See also Mohamed Sid-Ahmad, \u2018Muslim World Between Two\u00a0<\/i>Fires\u2019, War Report, January 1993, IHRLI Doc. No. 63744.)\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n However, the Belgrade Daily, Vecernje Novosti, reported that as many as 30,000\u00a0<\/span>Mujahedin were operating in BiH. (\u2018Other Reports in Brief: Muslims from Abroad\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Settling in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgrade Daily Claims\u2019, BBC, Summary of\u00a0<\/span><\/i>World Broadcasts, 19 September 1992. )<\/i><\/p>\n The Mujahedin forces came from several Muslim states and many of them\u00a0<\/span>were veterans of the Afghan war. (Andrew Hogg, \u2018Arabs Join in Bosnia\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Battle\u2019, Sunday Times, 30 August 1992)<\/i><\/p>\n Reports submitted to the Commission of Experts alleged that the\u00a0<\/span>Mujahedin have been responsible for the mutilation and killing of civilians,\u00a0<\/span>rape, looting, the destruction of property, and the expulsion of non-Muslim\u00a0populations. The deputy commander of the BiH Army, Colonel Stjepan\u00a0<\/span>Siber, has said, \u2018it was a mistake to let them [the Mujahedin] here . . . They\u00a0commit most of the atrocities and work against the interests of the\u00a0<\/span>Muslim people. They have been killing, looting and stealing.\u2019\u00a0 <\/span>(Andrew Hogg,\u00a0<\/span>\u2018TerrorTrail of the Mujahedin\u2019, Sunday Times, 27 June 1993).<\/em><\/p>\n Several reports indicate that the Mujahedin were placed under the\u00a0<\/span>command of the BiH Army.(See \u2018Some 400 Mujahedin Volunteers Fighting with Bosnian\u00a0<\/i>Muslims\u2019, Agence France Presse, 22 September 1992; Andrew Hogg, \u2018Arabs\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Join in Bosnia Battle\u2019, Sunday Times, 30 August 1992; see also Charles\u00a0<\/span><\/i>McLoed, ECMM, \u2018Report on Inter-Ethnic Violence in Vitez, Busovaca and Zenica\u2019,\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i>April 1993, IHRLI Doc. No. 20178- 20546, at 20207; Croatian Information\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Centre, Weekly Bulletin, No. 9, 4 October 1993, IHRLI Doc. No. 36434-36438, at\u00a0<\/i>36435; US Department of State, 1993, IHRLI Doc. No. 62612-62877, at\u00a0<\/span><\/i>62648,62724, 62730, and 62756)<\/i><\/p>\n The Mujahedin forces were closely associated with the 5th Corps, the\u00a0<\/span>6th and 7th Zenica Brigades, the 7th Travnik Brigade, and the 45th Muslim\u00a0<\/span>Brigade which belongs to the 6th Corps in Konjic of the Army of BiH (US\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Department of State, 1993, IHRLI Doc. No. 62612-62877, at 62648; see also Croatian\u00a0<\/i>Information Centre, Weekly Bulletin, No. 9, 4 October 1993, IHRLI Doc.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i>No. 36434-36438, at 36435; \u2018Continuing Clashes in Northwestern Enclave\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Reported from Both Sides\u2019, BBC, Summary of World Broadcasts, 14 December 1993.)<\/i><\/p>\n They also allegedly fought alongside the Muslim Police, the Krajiska\u00a0<\/span>Brigade from Travnik, units of Kosovo Muslims, Albanian soldiers, and\u00a0<\/span>paramilitary groups such as the \u00abGreen Legion\u00bb and the \u00abBlack Swans\u00bb.(Charles\u00a0<\/span><\/i>McLoed, ECMM, Report on Inter-Ethnic Violence in Vitez, Busovaca and Zenica,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>April 1993, IHRLI Doc. No. 20178-20546, at 20207; Croatian Information\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Centre, Weekly Bulletin, No. 9, 4 October 1993, IHRLI Doc. No. 36434-36438, at<\/i>36435; US Department of State, 1993, IHRLI Doc. No. 62612-62877, at\u00a0<\/span><\/i>62648, 62724, 62730, and 62756.)<\/i><\/p>\n Reports also indicate that the Mujahedin had the support of President\u00a0Izetbegovic and his government. This was demonstrated in the Bihac\u00a0pocket, where the Mujahedin joined BiH forces loyal to Izetbegovic.\u00a0Together, these forces battled separatist forces who entered into a\u00a0<\/span>separate peace treaty with Bosnian Serbs (\u2018Continuing Clashes in Northwestern\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Enclave Reported form Both Sides\u2019, BBC, Summary of World Broadcasts, 14\u00a0<\/span><\/i>December 1993)<\/i><\/p>\n In Zenica, between 31 August and 2 September 1992, 250 Mujahedin troops\u00a0allegedly come to BiH from Turkey, Qatar, Bahrain and Iran. These\u00a0<\/span>troops worked alongside the Green Legion and HOS paramilitary groups stationed\u00a0<\/span>in Zenica. The Mujahedin allegedly also operated a camp at\u00a0 <\/span>Arnauti.(Charles\u00a0<\/i>McLeod, ECMM, Report on Inter-Ethnic Violence in Vitez, Buscovaca and\u00a0<\/i>Zenica, April 1993, IHRLI Doc. No. 29043-29131, at 29064; Biljaja\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Plavsic, Republic of Serbia Presidency, To Serbs All Over the World, 30\u00a0<\/span><\/i>September 1992, IHRLI Doc. No. 48072- 48093, at 48081)<\/i><\/p>\n It was reported that a unit of the Mujahedin, called the ‘Guerilla’,\u00a0participated in the 16 April 1993 attack on Vitez and attempted to\u00a0<\/span>exchange 10 HVO hostages for foreign prisoners held in HVO prisons. (US\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Department of State, 1993, IHRLI Doc. No. 62612-62877, at 62629; see also Charles\u00a0<\/span><\/i>McLeod, ECMM, Report on Inter-Ethnic Violence in Vitez, Busovaca and Zenica,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>April 1993, IHRLI Doc. No. 29043-29131, at 29072 (attack on Vitez).<\/i><\/p>\n The Croatian Ministry of Defence is reported to have provided\u00a0<\/span>information about an event occurring in June 1993 — a joint BiH\/Mujahedin unit\u00a0reportedly attacked Travnik, allegedly forcing 4,000 Croatian civilians\u00a0<\/span>and military personnel out of the town. (US Department of State, 1993,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>IHRLI Doc. No. 62612-62877, at 62650. Media reports however claim that Croats\u00a0<\/span><\/i>left Travnik voluntarily. The incident was investigated by an organization,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>which reported that the forceful eviction did not take place)<\/i><\/p>\n The Mujahedin allegedly fought alongside the 6th Muslim Brigade from\u00a0<\/span>Zenica and the Krajiska Brigade from Travnik. Witnesses stated that they saw\u00a0Mujahedin operating in small patrols ahead of the approaching BiH\u00a0<\/span>troops.<\/p>\n According to HVO intelligence, Mujahedin forces arrived in Travnik\u00a0<\/span>sometime before June 1993 and came from Algeria, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran.\u00a0<\/span>The Mujahedin trained at a camp at Mehurici, where they were allegedly\u00a0<\/span>financed and equipped by a man named Abdulah, the owner of the \u2018Palma\u2019 video\u00a0<\/span>store in Travnik. Once in town, the Mujahedin were linked to the Seventh Brigade\u00a0<\/span>of the BiH Army, and were reportedly assembled into units of 10 to 15 men,\u00a0<\/span>and moved about on regular patrols.<\/p>\n The Mujahedin created tension in\u00a0<\/span>Travnik in the days prior to the attack on 3 June. One witness stated that the\u00a0Mujahedin directed their actions towards the HVO personnel in town.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n They allegedly demonstrated, shouted slogans and fired their rifles in the\u00a0<\/span>air.Mujahedin allegedly participated in the attack on Maljine in Novi\u00a0<\/span>Travnik on 8 June 1993, killing 20 to 30 HVO members and transporting Croatian\u00a0<\/span>women and children to the training centre at Mehurici.(Croatian Information\u00a0<\/i>Centre, Weekly Bulletin, No. 1, 9 August 1993)<\/i><\/p>\n In Konjic, the Mujahedin were part of a 100 member force stationed at\u00a0Liscioi and led by Haso Hakalovic. The unit was assembled in February\u00a0<\/span>1993 and included some Kosovo Muslims and members of the Black Swans from\u00a0<\/span>the Igman mountain region. (US Department of State, 1993, IHRLI Doc. No.\u00a0<\/i>62612-62877, at 62756)<\/i><\/p>\n Allegedly, Mujahedin troops killed and expelled villagers, and looted\u00a0<\/span>and burned homes, when they moved against the Jablanica- Konjic area. The\u00a0Mujahedin troops and members of the Black Swans reportedly conducted\u00a0occasional raids without members of BiH forces. (at IHRLI Doc. No.\u00a0<\/span>62752 and 62756. The village of Vrci was attacked on 25 May, and the village of\u00a0Radesine was attacked on 10 June. (See also Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Fifth\u00a0<\/i>Periodic Report on the Situation of Human Rights in the Territory of\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i>the Former Yugoslavia, U.N. Doc. E\/CN.4\/1994\/47, 17 November 1993, IHRLI\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Doc.No. 52399-52435, at 52405 (alleging that the Mujahedin were involved in\u00a0<\/i>attacks at Kopjari on 21 October, Doljani on 27 and 28 June, and\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Maljane on 8 June). UN Special Rapporteur Mazowiecki claims that corpses of\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Mujahedin victims displayed evidence of protracted cruelty and mutilation. )<\/i><\/p>\n Reportedly, the Mujahedin volunteers arrived in Konjic in small groups.\u00a0<\/span>It was reported that they were from Afghanistan and that they claimed to\u00a0<\/span>be students. They were allegedly armed with Hekleri automatic weapons andformer JNA equipment. Some Mujahedin were reportedly former students\u00a0<\/span>with no military experience.<\/p>\n Mujahedin forces were present in Mostar since early June 1993. They\u00a0<\/span>were reportedly stationed in the Santica neighbourhood on the Muslim\/HVO\u00a0<\/span>front, where they manned bunkers, usually in groups of six or seven, armed\u00a0<\/span>with 7.62 millimetre semi-automatic weapons, machine-guns, and Zolja\u00a0<\/span>anti-tank weapons. They were billeted in a building they shared with the Muslim\u00a0military police on the east bank of the Neretva River. The Mujahedin\u00a0<\/span>forces apparently left Mostar on 15 August. (US Department of State, 1993,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>IHRLI Doc. No. 62612-62877, at 62742 and 62677. For more details on the\u00a0<\/span><\/i>location of the Neretva living quarters, see Id. at 62739)<\/i><\/p>\n FRY reported that the Mujahedin began operations near Teslic in July\u00a0<\/span>and August of 1992. Troops from Saudi Arabia allegedly killed three SerbianTerritorial Defence members and placed the victims’ severed heads on\u00a0<\/span>poles near the \u2018Tesanj turret\u2019. (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Second\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Report Submitted to the Commission of Experts, 1993, IHRLI\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Doc. No. 28401-29019, at 28533)<\/i><\/p>\n Beheadings of Serbs by Mujahedin forces have also been reported in\u00a0<\/span>other areas.<\/p>\n The Mujahedin were also alleged to be part of the forces that invaded\u00a0<\/span>the village of Trusina near Foca on 15 April 1993. According to the report,\u00a0attackers wore white ribbons on their arms and fought beside Albanian\u00a0<\/span>Muslim troops. Twenty-two civilians reportedly died in the attack. (US\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Department of State, 1993, IHRLI Doc. No. 62612-62877, at 62648; Croatian\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Information Centre, Weekly Bulletin, No. 9, 4 October 1993, IHRLI Doc. No.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>36434-36438, at 36435)<\/i><\/p>\n The Mujahedin allegedly performed crude circumcisions upon Serbian\u00a0<\/span>police forces, who were later treated by an American surgeon at the Kosevo\u00a0<\/span>hospital in Sarajevo. (Letter dated 7 December 1992 from the Deputy\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Representative of the US to U.N. Secretary-General, U.N. Doc. S\/24918,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>8 December 1992,\u00a0 <\/span>IHRLI Doc. No. 3160-3177, at 3173; Federal Republic\u00a0<\/span><\/i>of Yugoslavia, Second Report Submitted to the Commission of Experts,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>1993, IHRLI Doc. No. 28401-29019, at 28566)<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" www.balkanpeace.org Analysis of the part played in the Bosnian conflict (1992-95) by the 7th Bosnian\u00a0Muslim Brigade, based in Zenica – the international Islamic mercenary force\u00a0known as the mujahedeen “… The first and foremost of such conclusions is surely the one on\u00a0the incompatibility of Islam and non-Islamic systems. There can be no peace\u00a0or coexistence between … <\/p>\n