Foreign fighters in the Bosnian War

The Bosnian War attracted large numbers of foreign fighters and mercenaries from various countries. Volunteers came to fight for a variety of reasons including religious or ethnic loyalties and in some cases for money. As a general rule, Bosniaks received support from Islamic countries, Serbs from Eastern Orthodox countries, and Croats from Catholic countries. The presence of foreign fighters is well documented, however none of these groups comprised more than 5 percent of any of the respective armies' total manpower strength.

Bosnian mujahideen
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Foreign_fighters_in_the_Bosnian_War&diff=804959391&oldid=804959184 Main article: Bosnian mujahideen

Main article:Al-Qaeda in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Sunni involvement
Arab volunteers came across Croatia into Bosnia to help the Bosnian Army fight in the war. The number of the El-Mudžahid volunteers is still disputed, from around 300[1] to 6,000.[2]

These caused particular controversy: foreign fighters, styling themselves mujahideen, turned up in Bosnia around 1993 with Croatian identity documents, passports and IDs. They quickly attracted heavy criticism[who?], who considered their presence to be evidence of violent Islamic fundamentalism at the heart of Europe. However, the foreign volunteers became unpopular even with many of the Bosniak population, because the Bosnian army had thousands of troops and had no need for more soldiers, but for arms. Many Bosnian Army officers and intellectuals were suspicious regarding foreign volunteers arrival in central part of the country, because they came from Split and Zagreb in Croatia, and were passed through the self-proclaimed Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia without problems unlike Bosnian Army soldiers who were regularly arrested by Croat forces. According to general Stjepan Šiber, the highest ranking ethnic Croat in Bosnian Army, the key role in foreign volunteers arrival was played by Franjo Tuđman and Croatian counter-intelligence underground with the aim to justify involvement of Croatia in Bosnian War and mass crimes committed by Croat forces. Although Izetbegović regarded them as symbolically valuable as a sign of the Muslim world's support for Bosnia, they appear to have made little military difference and became a major political liability.[citation needed]

Pakistan supported Bosnia while providing technical and military support.[3][4] Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) allegedly ran an active military intelligence program during the Bosnian War which started in 1992 lasting until 1995. Executed and supervised by Pakistani General Javed Nasir, the program provided logistics and ammunition supplies to various groups of Bosnian mujahideen during the war. The ISI Bosnian contingent was organized with financial assistance provided by Saudi Arabia, according to the British historian Mark Curtis.[5]

Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence also played an active role during 1992–1995 and secretly supplied the Muslim fighters with arms, ammunition and guided anti tank missiles to give them a fighting chance against the Serbs. Pakistan defied the UN's ban on supply of arms to Bosnian Muslims and General Javed Nasir later claimed that Pakistan's intelligence agency, ISI, had airlifted anti-tank guided missiles to Bosnia which ultimately turned the tide in favour of Bosnian Muslims and forced the Serbs to lift the siege.[6][7][8]

Military operations, including Al-Qaeda activity (see Al-Qaeda in Bosnia and Herzegovina), were funded and supported by the Saudi High Commission (SHC), founded by Saudi prince Salman bin Abdul-Aziz.[9] According to Washington Post, Saudi Arabia provided $300 million in weapons to government forces in Bosnia with the knowledge and tacit cooperation of the United States, a claim denied by officials.[10]

On August 13, 1993, the Bosnian Army decided to form a unit, Kateebat al-Mujahideen ("Battalion of the Holy Warriors") or El Mudžahid to impose control over the foreign fighters whose number increased. Initially, the foreign Mujahideen gave food and other basic necessities to the local Muslim population, deprived of many necessities by the Serb forces. Once hostilities broke out between the Bosnian government (ABiH) and the Croat forces (HVO), the Mujahideen also participated in battles against the HVO alongside Bosnian Army units.[11]

According to the Arab fighters who testified as the prosecution witnesses at the trial of Bosnian general Rasim Delić indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on the basis of superior criminal responsibility, the El Mujahid Detachment was only formally part of the Bosnian Army chain of command. All decisions were taken by the emir and the shura, the Mujahideen commander and the Mujahideen supreme council respectively. This was because the ‘Army couldn’t be trusted’.[12]

It is alleged that mujahideen participated in some incidents considered to be war crimes according to the international law. However no indictment was issued by the ICTY against them, but a few Bosnian Army officers were indicted on the basis of superior criminal responsibility. Amir Kubura and Enver Hadžihasanović were found not guilty on all counts related to the incidents involving mujahideen. Furthermore, the Appeals Chamber noted that the relationship between the 3rd Corps of the Bosnian Army headed by Hadžihasanović and the El Mujahedin detachment was not one of subordination but was instead close to overt hostility since the only way to control the detachment was to attack them as if they were a distinct enemy force.[13]

During and after the war, the government at the time, led by Alija Izetbegović, was thought to have bent the law when granting citizenship to the mujahideen.[14] As of 2007, the Bosnian government says that a commission reviewed a list of more than 1,000 names and has revoked citizenship for about 420 people so far.[15]

The mujahideen units were disbanded and required to leave the Balkans under the terms of the 1995 Dayton peace accord. Although the US State Department report suggested that the number could be higher, a senior SFOR official said allied military intelligence estimated that no more than 200 foreign-born militants actually live in Bosnia.[2][16]

Shia involvement
Aside from the Sunni and Wahabi mujahideen, Shia Iran was one of the very first Muslim countries to provide support for besieged Bosniaks (predominantly Sunni Muslim, that ascribe to the Hanafi school of thought). Iran supplied two-thirds of the total received in weapons and ammunition by the Bosnian Muslim forces during the 1992-95 war. From May, 1994 to January, 1996, Iran transported over 5,000 tons of weapons and military equipment to Bosnia.[17] Iran not only sent much needed supplies but also fighters. Lebanese Shia Hezbollah had also its fighters in the Bosnian war.[18] Robert Baer, a CIA agent stationed in Sarajevo during the war, later claimed that “In Sarajevo, the Bosnian Muslim government is a client of the Iranians . . . If it’s a choice between the CIA and the Iranians, they’ll take the Iranians any day.” By war’s end, public opinion polls showed some eighty-six percent of the Bosnian Muslim population expressed a positive attitude toward Iran.[19] All Shia foreign advisors and fighters withdrew from Bosnia at the end of conflict.

According to some US NGO reports, there were also several hundred Iranian Revolutionary Guards assisting the Bosnian government during the war.[20] Other foreign Muslim fighters also joined the ranks of the Bosnian Muslims, including from the Lebanese guerrilla organization Hezbollah.[18] These were however reserved for duties requiring close combat engagements, simply because their skill and experience was too valuable to be wasted in other less complicated duties.[citation needed]

Support to Bosnian Muslims

 * Iran, a predominantly Shia country, was one of the first Muslim countries to provide support for the Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks, who are mainly Sunni Muslim) in the war. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) sent more than five thousand tonnes of arms to the Bosnian Muslims. IRGC also supplied trainers and advisers for the Bosnian military and intelligence service. Several dozen Iranian intelligence experts joined the Bosnian Muslim intelligence agency. The Iranian Ministry of Intelligence-supported mujahideen units trained selected Bosnian army units. The Hezbollah (Lebanese Shia), supported by Iran, also sent fighters to the war. In 1992, Iran with the help of Turkey smuggled arms to the Bosnian Muslims. Reports of "hundreds of tons of weapons" shipped from Iran over a period of months appeared in the media in early 1995. Iranian arms were shipped through Croatia.  Robert Baer, a CIA agent stationed in Sarajevo during the war, later claimed that “In Sarajevo, the Bosnian Muslim government is a client of the Iranians . . . If it’s a choice between the CIA and the Iranians, they’ll take the Iranians any day.” By the war’s end, public opinion polls showed some 86% of the Bosnian Muslim population expressed a positive attitude toward Iran.


 * Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) supplied the Bosnian Muslims with arms, ammunition and guided anti-tank missiles. Pakistan defied the UN's ban on supply of arms to the war (declaring it illegal, among other Muslim countries ) and ISI airlifted anti-tank guided missiles to the Bosnian Muslims.


 * Saudia Arabia assisted the Bosnian Muslims with funding, arms and volunteer fighters. Military operations were funded and supported by the Saudi High Commission (SHC), founded by Saudi prince Salman bin Abdul-Aziz. Saudia Arabia provided $300 million in arms supplies (and $500 in humanitarian aid) to the Bosnian government, in violation to the embargo and with the knowing of the United States.


 * Turkey actively supported the Bosnian Muslims. It assisted Iran with smuggling arms to the Bosnian Muslims. The Turkish line included arms and money also from Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Brunei and Pakistan. Turkish private individuals and groups financially supported the Bosnian Muslims, and some hundreds of Turks joined as volunteers. Greatest private aid came from Islamist groups, such as the Refah Party and IHH. As a NATO member, Turkey supported and participated in NATO operations, including sending 18 F-16 planes. It was the first of the member countries to call for military intervention, and backed all US calls for engagement, and strongly supported air strikes. It has been noted though, that financial aid from the Turkish government was minimal.


 * The United States took no actions against the smuggling of arms, of which they knew. The CIA funded, trained and supplied the Bosnian Army. EU intelligence sources suggested that the US organized arms shipments to Bosnia through Muslim allies.


 * NATO, headed by the United States, intervened through air operations.

Among foreign Islamist organizations supporting the Bosnian Muslims were Al-Qaeda (including Bosnian branch), Harkat ul-Ansar, Refah Party, Armed Islamic Group of Algeria, and others. Among foreign non-profit organizations and charitable trusts were the Saudi Benevolence International Foundation (Al-Qaeda) and al-Haramain Foundation (Al-Qaeda-associated), the Turkish IHH, and others.