Siege of Sarajevo

The Siege of Sarajevo began with Serb militants from the former Yugoslav federation fighting against and conquering the Muslims of Bosnia-Hercegovina. Many cities fell quickly, except for the city of Sarajevo. All roads leading in and out of the city were soon blockaded, leaving 400,000 civilians trapped in the city. Thousands of civilians were killed, and numerous human rights violations were committed, such as ethnic cleansing, mass executions, and rape. The citizens of the city relied on any sort of aid from the outside world, such as the UN or the Red Cross. Red Cross supply trucks, which were allowed into the city, were raided and destroyed, and every building in the city was destroyed or damaged, including attacks on maternity wards which killed both newborns and their mothers. In one instance in the summer of June 1993, 15 people were killed and 80 more injured as a result of a mortar attack on a soccer stadium. The citizens of Sarajevo hoped for a peace treaty, which seemed imminent in the spring of 1995. On May 1st, however, "mortars rocked Sarajevo and the Serbs raided a UN-monitored weapons collection site." NATO retaliated by sending fighter jets to attack Serb ammunition depots later in May 1995. On February 29, 1996, the Bosnian government declared that the siege of Sarajevo was over. The city's current population has decreased from 650,000 pre-war citizens to 220,000 today, illustrating the immense effect the siege had on the city of Sarajevo.

Source: http://www.thenagain.info/WebChron/easteurope/SarajevoSiege.CP.html