Operation Summer '95

Operation Summer '95
Part of the Bosnian War and the Croatian War of Independence
Map of Operation Summer '95
Date 25–29 July 1995 Location Western Bosnia and Herzegovina Result Croatian victory
Belligerents
Croatia  Herzeg-Bosnia	Republika Srpska Republic of Serbian Krajina
Commanders and leaders
Zvonimir Červenko Ante Gotovina	Ratko Mladić Radivoje Tomanić
Units involved
Croatian Army Croatian Defence Council Police of Herzeg-Bosnia	Army of Republika Srpska Army of the Republic of Serb Krajina
Strength
8,500 troops	5,500 troops
Casualties and losses
18 killed 155 wounded	Unknown
12,000–14,000 Bosnian Serb refugees

Operation Summer '95 (Croatian: Operacija Ljeto '95) was a joint military offensive of the Croatian Army (HV) and the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) that took place north-west of the Livanjsko Polje, and around Bosansko Grahovo and Glamoč in western Bosnia and Herzegovina. The operation was carried out between 25 and 29 July 1995, during the Croatian War of Independence and the Bosnian War. The attacking force of 8,500 troops commanded by HV's Lieutenant General Ante Gotovina initially encountered strong resistance from the 5,500-strong Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) 2nd Krajina Corps. The HV/HVO pushed the VRS back, capturing about 1,600 square kilometres (620 square miles) of territory and consequently intercepting the Knin—Drvar road—a critical supply route of the self-declared Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK). The operation failed to achieve its declared primary goal of drawing VRS units away from the besieged city of Bihać, but it placed the HV in position to capture the RSK's capital Knin in Operation Storm days later.

Operation Summer '95 was launched in response to the resumption of attacks by the VRS and the RSK military on the Bihać pocket—one of six United Nations Safe Areas established in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The area was viewed as strategic to the Croatian military effort by the HV General Staff because it presented an obstacle to the supply of the RSK and it pinned down a portion of the RSK military, as well as some VRS forces that would otherwise have been redeployed. The international community feared the worst humanitarian disaster of the war to that point would occur if the RSK or the VRS overran the Bihać pocket. The United States, France and the United Kingdom were divided about the best way to protect the pocket.