United Nations Protection Forces (Bosnia and Herzegovina) UNPROFOR - BH - MEDUSA

International Information

International Operation Name: United Nations Protection Forces (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

International Mission Name: United Nations Protection Forces (Bosnia and Herzegovina) UNPROFOR - BH

Mandating Organization: United Nations

Region Name: Europe

Location: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Mission Date: 31 March 1995 - 01 November 1995

Mandate: To aid in the distribution of relief within selected areas of Bosnia-Herzegovina; provide protection for designated safe areas; to monitor the ceasefire, to promote the withdrawal of military or paramilitary units other than those of the Government of the Republic of BiH; and to occupy some of the key points on the ground in addition to participating in the delivery of humanitarian relief.

Supported by UNSCRs 982, 998, and 1026

Mission Notes: In early 1995, towards the end of UNPROFOR’s mission in Yugoslavia, the governments of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia each expressed the wish that the United Nations forces in their countries should be separated from UNPROFOR. In order to respond to those wishes, the Secretary-General proposed that UNPROFOR be replaced by three separate but interlinked peacekeeping operations and with an "umbrella" United Nations Peace Forces (UNPF) headquarters for all of the UN missions in the Balkans region. UNPROFOR's (sometimes referred to as UNPROFOR II) mandate continued only in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

From March to November 1995, the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina was dominated by three main developments. First, there was an unprecedented level of military activity accompanied by major movements of refugees. Second, both UNPROFOR and NATO used force against the Bosnian Serbs. And third, the United States-led peace initiative, together with a countrywide decrease in fighting in October and November, provided a solid opportunity for a political solution to the conflict.
Throughout September and October a United Nations Special Envoy had conducted talks with members of the former Yugoslav republics. These talks led to the peace talks held in Dayton Ohio, and the eventual signing of the Dayton Peace Accord on 15 November 1995.
UNPROFOR’s mandate came to a close on 20 December 1995 in accordance with the provisions of the Dayton Peace Accord. On that date it transferred authority to the International Implementation Force (IFOR). 

Canada was already established in Bosnia under Operation CAVALIER and had completed four rotations plus an initial deployment by the end of March 1995. In early May 1995, the RCD Battle Group was replaced by the 3e Bataillon, Le Royal 22e Régiment, marking the beginning of the fifth rotation for the operation. Tensions in the VanDoo area of operation were high and shortly after their arrival NATO executed two air strikes against ammunition dumps near Pale. The next day, on 27 May 1995, eight soldiers from the battle group were taken hostage along with nearly 300 other UNPROFOR personnel, and used as human shields to deter further air strikes. The eight were later released unharmed, and the remainder of the tour was completed in comparative calm. 
Operation MEDUSA, which supplied the electronic warfare (EW) support to the Canadian Battle Group, continued to provided two direction finding detachments mounted in Bison vehicles. Each detachment included two linguists and provided search, interception, and Line of Bearing direction finding capabilities and remained active until the end of the tour. 
By October, near the end of the six-month rotation, there was a marked decrease in fighting as Operation CAVALIER prepared to close out. To effect the repatriation of Op CAVALIER and support personnel from CANLOGBAT, in mid-October Operation TURBOT was mounted to coordinate efforts between the UN – who were booking the flights – and the personnel on the ground. Flying out of Split, Croatia, the flights continued until early November 1995, when the last of the Op CAVALIER personnel were repatriated.