NATO bombing of Yugoslavia

NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
Part of the Kosovo War

The Yugoslav city of Novi Sad on fire in 1999
Date24 March – 10 June 1999[3] (2 months, 2 weeks and 3 days)
Location
Yugoslavia[4]
Result

NATO victory[5]

Territorial
changes		 UN Resolution 1244; de facto separation of Kosovo from Yugoslavia under UN temporary administration
Belligerents
  FR Yugoslavia
Commanders and leaders
United States John W. Hendrix[18]
Strength
NATO:
  • 114,000 regulars
  • 20,000 police
  • 1,270 tanks
  • 825 armoured vehicles[20]
  • 1,400 artillery pieces
  • 100 SAM launchers
  • 14 modern combat aircraft[21]
Casualties and losses
  • 3 jet fighters destroyed
  • 3 jet fighters damaged
  • 2 helicopters destroyed
  • 46 UAVs destroyed[22]
  • 2 soldiers killed (out of combat)
  • 3 soldiers captured
 2013 Serbian MOD estimate:
  • 1,008 killed (659 servicemen and 349 policemen)
  • 5,173 wounded[23]
Acc. to FHP:
304 soldiers and policemen[24]
Material losses:
NATO estimate:[25][26]
  • 93 tanks destroyed
  • 153 APCs destroyed
  • 389 artillery pieces destroyed
  • 339 other vehicles destroyed
  • 121 aircraft destroyed
Yugoslav estimate:[26]
  • 13 tanks destroyed
  • 6 APCs destroyed
  • 6 artillery pieces destroyed
Newsweek estimate:[26]
  • 14 tanks destroyed
  • 18 APCs destroyed
  • 20 artillery pieces destroyed

Human Rights Watch estimate: 489–528 civilians killed (60% of whom were in Kosovo)[27]
Yugoslav estimate: 1,200–2,000 civilians killed[27] and about 6,000 civilians wounded[28]
FHP: 218 Albanians, 204 Serbs and 30 others[24]

China 3 Chinese citizens killed in NATO's bombing of China's embassy in Belgrade
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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombings continued until an agreement was reached that led to the withdrawal of the Yugoslav Army from Kosovo, and the establishment of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, a UN peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. The official NATO operation code name was Operation Allied Force (Serbian: Савезничка сила / Saveznička sila) whereas the United States called it Operation Noble Anvil (Serbian: Племенити наковањ / Plemeniti nakovanj);[29] in Yugoslavia the operation was incorrectly called Merciful Angel (Serbian: Милосрдни анђео / Milosrdni anđeo), possibly as a result of a misunderstanding or mistranslation.[30]

NATO's intervention was prompted by Yugoslavia's bloodshed and ethnic cleansing of Albanians, which drove the Albanians into neighbouring countries and had the potential to destabilize the region. Yugoslavia's actions had already provoked condemnation by international organisations and agencies such as the UN, NATO, and various INGOs.[31][32] Yugoslavia's refusal to sign the Rambouillet Accords was initially offered as justification for NATO's use of force.[33] NATO countries attempted to gain authorisation from the UN Security Council for military action, but were opposed by China and Russia, who indicated that they would veto such a measure.[citation needed] As a result, NATO launched its campaign without the UN's approval, stating that it was inter alia a humanitarian intervention.[34] The UN Charter prohibits the use of force except in the case of a decision by the Security Council under Article 42, under Article 51 or under Article 53.[35] Three days after the commencement of hostilities, on 26 March 1999, the Security Council rejected the demand of Russia, Belarus and India for the cessation of the use of force against Yugoslavia.[36]

By the end of the war, the Yugoslavs had killed 1,500[37] to 2,131 combatants.[38] 10,317 civilians were killed or missing, with 85% of those being Kosovar Albanian and some 848,000 were expelled from Kosovo.[39] The NATO bombing killed about 1,000 members of the Yugoslav security forces in addition to between 489 and 528 civilians. It destroyed or damaged bridges, industrial plants, hospitals, schools, cultural monuments, and private businesses, as well as barracks and military installations. In total, between 9 and 11 tonnes of depleted uranium was dropped across all of Yugoslavia.[40] In the days after the Yugoslav army withdrew, over 164,000 Serbs and 24,000 Roma left Kosovo. Many of the remaining non-Albanian civilians (as well as Albanians perceived as collaborators) were victims of abuse which included beatings, abductions, and murders.[41][42][43][44][45] After Kosovo and other Yugoslav Wars, Serbia became home to the highest number of refugees and IDPs (including Kosovo Serbs) in Europe.[46][47][48]

The bombing was NATO's second major combat operation, following the 1995 bombing campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was the first time that NATO had used military force without the expressed endorsement of the UN Security Council and thus, international legal approval,[49] which triggered debates over the legitimacy of the intervention.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Norske jagerfly på vingene i går was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Turkish Air Force was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference nato was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference cnn was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ References:
    • Stigler, Andrew L. "A clear victory for air power: NATO's empty threat to invade Kosovo." International Security 27.3 (2003): 124–157.
    • Biddle, Stephen. "The new way of war? Debating the Kosovo model." (2002): 138–144.
    • Dixon, Paul. "Victory by spin? Britain, the US and the propaganda war over Kosovo." Civil Wars 6.4 (2003): 83–106.
    • Harvey, Frank P. "Getting NATO's success in Kosovo right: The theory and logic of counter-coercion." Conflict Management and Peace Science 23.2 (2006): pp. 139–158.
  6. ^ Stigler, Andrew L. "A clear victory for air power: NATO's empty threat to invade Kosovo." International Security 27.3 (2003): pp. 124–157.
  7. ^ Biddle, Stephen. "The new way of war? Debating the Kosovo model." (2002): 138–144.
  8. ^ Dixon, Paul. "Victory by spin? Britain, the US and the propaganda war over Kosovo." Civil Wars 6.4 (2003): pp. 83–106.
  9. ^ Harvey, Frank P. "Getting NATO's success in Kosovo right: The theory and logic of counter-coercion." Conflict Management and Peace Science 23.2 (2006): pp. 139–158.
  10. ^ Parenti (2000), pp. 198
  11. ^ "Serbia marks another anniversary of NATO attacks - English - on B92.net". Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  12. ^ Zunes, Stephen (6 July 2009). "The US War on Yugoslavia: Ten Years Later". HuffPost. Archived from the original on 31 August 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  13. ^ "Abuses against Serbs and Roma in the new Kosovo". Human Rights Watch. August 1999. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  14. ^ Hudson, Robert; Bowman, Glenn (2012). After Yugoslavia: Identities and Politics Within the Successor States. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 30. ISBN 9780230201316.
  15. ^ "Kosovo Crisis Update". United Nations High Commission for Refugees. 4 August 1999. Archived from the original on 16 October 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  16. ^ Siobhán Wills (26 February 2009). Protecting Civilians: The Obligations of Peacekeepers. Oxford University Press. p. 219. ISBN 978-0-19-953387-9. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
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  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference Task Force Hawk was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kosovo operation allied force after-action report was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference GroupedRef4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ NATOs AirWar for Kosovo, Benjamin S. Lambert
  22. ^ "Officially confirmed / documented NATO UAV losses". 8 March 2001. Archived from the original on 8 March 2001.
  23. ^ "Stradalo 1.008 vojnika i policajaca". RTS. 11 February 2013. Archived from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  24. ^ a b "Human losses in NATO bombing (Serbia Kosovo, Montenegro)". FHP. Archived from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference Op. Cit., Lambeth 2001: 86 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  26. ^ a b c Grant, Rebecca (1 August 2000). "True Blue: Behind the Kosovo Numbers Game". Air & Space Forces Magazine. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  27. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference hrw.org was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  28. ^ „Шеснаеста годишњица НАТО бомбардовања“ Archived 29 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine, РТС, 24. март 2015.
  29. ^ Cite error: The named reference Towards a common European security and defense policy: the ways and means of making it a reality was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  30. ^ RTS: "Порекло имена 'Милосрдни анђео'" ("On the origin of the name 'Merciful Angel'") Archived 2 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine, 26 March 2009 (in Serbian)
  31. ^ Jordan, Robert S. (2001). International organizations: A comparative approach to the management of cooperation. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 129. ISBN 9780275965495.
  32. ^ Yoshihara, Susan Fink (2006). "Kosovo". In Reveron, Derek S.; Murer, Jeffrey Stevenson (eds.). Flashpoints in the War on Terrorism. Routledge. pp. 67–68. ISBN 9781135449315.
  33. ^ Cite error: The named reference LeidenSuy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  34. ^ Cite error: The named reference NATO_situation was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  35. ^ O'Connell, Mary Ellen (2000). "The UN, NATO, and International Law after Kosovo". Human Rights Quarterly. 22 (1): 57–89. doi:10.1353/hrq.2000.0012. ISSN 0275-0392. JSTOR 4489267. S2CID 146137597.
  36. ^ "SECURITY COUNCIL REJECTS DEMAND FOR CESSATION OF USE OF FORCE AGAINST FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA". SC/6659. United Nations. Security Council. 26 March 1999.
  37. ^ Daalder, Ivo H.; O'Hanlon, Michel E. (2000). Winning Ugly: NATO's War to Save Kosovo (2004 ed.). Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press. p. 151. ISBN 978-0815798422. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 2 January 2021 – via Google Books.
  38. ^ "Kosovo Memory Book Database Presentation and Expert Evaluation" (PDF). Humanitarian Law Center. 4 February 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  39. ^ Judah, Tim (1997). The Serbs: History, Myth and the Destruction of Yugoslavia (2009, 3rd ed.). New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. p. 150. ISBN 978-0-300-15826-7. Retrieved 3 January 2021 – via Google Books. the Serbian police began clearing ... people [who] were marched down to the station and deported... the UNCHR registered 848,000 people who had either been forcibly expelled or had fled
  40. ^ Miljević, Nada; Marković, Mirjana; Todorović, Dragana; Cvijović, Mirjana; Dušan, Golobočanin; Orlić, Milan; Veselinović, Dragan; Biočanin, Rade (2001). "Uranium content in the soil of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia after NATO intervention" (PDF). Archive of Oncology. 9 (4): 245-249. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  41. ^ "Abuses against Serbs and Roma in the new Kosovo". Human Rights Watch. August 1999. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  42. ^ Hudson, Robert; Bowman, Glenn (2012). After Yugoslavia: Identities and Politics Within the Successor States. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 30. ISBN 9780230201316.
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  44. ^ "Forced Expulsion of Kosovo Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians from OSCE Participated state to Kosovo". OSCE. 6 October 2006. Archived from the original on 26 November 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  45. ^ Siobhán Wills (26 February 2009). Protecting Civilians: The Obligations of Peacekeepers. Oxford University Press. p. 219. ISBN 978-0-19-953387-9. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
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  47. ^ "Serbia: Europe's largest proctracted refugee situation". OSCE. 2008. Archived from the original on 26 March 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  48. ^ S. Cross, S. Kentera, R. Vukadinovic, R. Nation (7 May 2013). Shaping South East Europe's Security Community for the Twenty-First Century: Trust, Partnership, Integration. Springer. p. 169. ISBN 9781137010209. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2017.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  49. ^ Zyla, Benjamin (2020). The End of European Security Institutions?: The EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy and NATO After Brexit. Springer. p. 40. ISBN 9783030421601. Archived from the original on 22 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.