The civil war in the former Yugoslavia broke out from the civil war between Serbia and Croatia, but the war spread and worsened with each involvement of the UN peacekeeping forces. The headquarters of the UN peacekeeping force established in Sarajevo, far from the civil war zone, became the epicenter of the conflict; a Serbian child was killed and became a casualty of shelling from the Boshnjak (Moslem) side in April 1994. The child was preparing dinner when a missile shelled him, splattering his upper body. A pregnant Serbian woman was also killed. About 100,000 people were killed during the war, and more than 2.2 million became refugees.
In June 1991, Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence. In Croatia, the Croatian conflict broke out, and the Serbs, who had become a minority, were excluded. The Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the most complex ethnic mix, declared independence in March 1992 in a referendum boycotted by the Serbs. The Serbs countered by declaring secession, and the clashes escalated. Serb forces, who received military support from the Republic of Serbia, confronted the government forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, resulting in a civil war.
The Bosnian-Herzegovinian conflict led to a civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had gained independence from Yugoslavia, from April 6, 1992 to December 14, 1995. The ethnic composition of the population was a mixture of different ethnic groups, with about 44% Bosniaks (Muslims), 33% Serbs, and 17% Croats. The government forces were led by the Boshnaks (Muslims), who had a high percentage of the population. Serb forces, supported by the Yugoslav government, were dominant until 1993.
On March 1, 1994, a decision was made in Washington to form a federal state of Boshnaks and Croats. On April 10-11, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) conducted small indiscriminate airstrikes against Serb forces; on August 5, Serb forces conducted another NATO airstrike in response to an attack on a UN-controlled arms depot; on November 21 and 23, a third NATO airstrike was conducted. A third NATO airstrike was carried out on November 21 and 23, 1995; a major airstrike was carried out from August 30 to September 14, 1995; a peace date was agreed in Paris on December 14, 1995.
