Zagreb, Croatia, July 9, 1993
Fighting intensified throughout central and eastern Bosnia-Herzegovina on Saturday as a mortar blast killed eight mourners at a Muslim funeral in Sarajevo and international mediators arrived in the Croatian capital for a new round of peace talks.
In the eastern Bosnian city of Gorazde, Serbian shelling reportedly left dozens dead. And near Mostar in central Bosnia, a Spanish platoon commander was killed when Croatian gunmen attacked a U.N. military patrol late Friday, U.N. forces announced.
That incident came hours after the fatal shooting of two Croatian soldiers by British U.N. forces guarding an aid convoy that had come under attack. The Croats’ deaths raised fears of reprisals against the 9,000 lightly armed U.N. peacekeepers posted throughout the embattled republic.
A U.N. spokesman said the Spanish soldier was shot on the outskirts of Mostar, several miles down the road from the convoy attack, while leading a patrol of armored vehicles carrying medical supplies to a Muslim hospital in the city. He was the 46th U.N. soldier killed in Bosnia.
