(8 Apr 1995) Serbo-Croat/Nat
Bosnian Serbs repulsed a Bosnian government offensive on Mount Majevica near Tuzla as fighting increases on most fronts with the collapse of the little-observed December 31 truce.
Bosnian Croats anxiously watched the battles as they await a possible battle with Serbian forces for what has become Bosnia's most important road.
Bosnian Serb Army Forces marched through a scorched forest on Mount Majevica after repulsing a two-week government offensive.
In this northeastern region near Tuzla fighting has increased in recent weeks with constant ceasefire violations.
Abandoned trenches are left in the Majevica mountains after the Serbs repelled the Bosnian government troops from the area.
The BSA also regained full control of the Stolice communications tower on the peak of Mount Majevica.
And in a counter-attack recaptured Konjic peak, a strategic point on the mountain overlooking Tuzla.
The bodies of Muslim soldiers from the II Tuzla brigade killed in the fighting for Konjic lay on stretchers on the ground.
The Bosnian Serb soldiers loaded the dead onto a truck to take them away from their new area of victory.
The northeast city of Tuzla lies only 20 miles north of the Croatian border by Orasje.
The village of Vidovice with its burnt out buildings is located along this key strategic corridor which is a vital supplies corridor for the Bosnian Serbs.
The graveyard is a reminder of the vulnerability of the village as it is squeezed between Muslim-led government army forces on the south and allied Bosnian Croat and Croatian forces on the north.
Bosnian Croat Forces (HVO) head to the nearby frontline to prepare to defend the areas as a battle for the corridor could be the decisive clash of the war.
If the truce completely collapses with a major war escalation in Bosnia this so called corridor are would certainly become one of the most important battlefields.
All men in the area are HVO soldiers doing their daily shifts in bunkers and fields with trenches in preparation to defend the area know as the "Orasje pocket."
Brigadier General Djuro Matuzovic, a Bosnian Croat commander in Orasje, said cutting the road would isolate most Bosnian and Croatian Serb rebels from Serbia, their source of supplies.
SOUNDBITE:
"I do not know whether the cease fire agreement is going to be extended. We conduct our training as if they are going to launch attack tomorrow. We primarily have to defend this area but we are ready for an offensive as well."
SUPER CAPTION: Brigadier General Djuro Matuzovic, Bosnian Croat commander
Driving their tanks near the village, the men conduct training exercises
with some of their estimated 20 tanks and up to 3-thousand men stationed along the front line.
But they watch the successes and failures of the Bosnian government forces near Tuzla to see whether the fighting could push the Bosnian Serbs to attack this key road.
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