Trebava offensive

Trebava offensive
Part of the War in Bosnia
Date 15 October 1994 – 20 October 1994 Location Trebava, BiH Result Army of Republika Srpska victory ARBiH attack repelled, failure to capture Duga Njiva peak
Units involved
Army of Republika Srpska 9th Operational Group of the VRS	Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2nd Corps (Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina)

The Trebava offensive started after the capture of Vis, which gave the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina motivation to go further. In the offensive, the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina tried to capture the peak of Duga Njiva, Skipovac, Zelinja, Paležnica, Sjenina and some other areas, and if they succeeded, they could put pressure on Modriča, just like when the Croatian Defence Council occupied Modriča in 1992 for a moment. In the end, they occupied only Skipovac, and could not break through because the Army of Republika Srpska fired artillery at them from peak of Duga Njiva, and they failed to capture the surrounding villages.

Course of the battle

Following a successful operation in August near Gračanica, the 2nd Corps (Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina) launched a much larger offensive in October against the forces of the 9th Operational Group of the Army of Republika Srpska on the Paležnica-Zelinja sector. The new attack, which gathered all new elite liberation and light brigades of the 2nd Corps, required strikes along three axes: towards Doboj, Modriča, and Obudovac-Pelagićevo. It appears that these axes, while in the same region, did not support each other nor had a unified objective. The offensive brought tactical successes, but the 2nd Corps was unable to advance beyond its initial gains against the Army of Republika Srpska's defense lines. The operation began on October 15 with an attack by the new Operational Group 2/2 of the 2nd Corps towards the area of Skipovci, north of Vis hill, swiftly capturing an additional 20 km² of territory. But when 2nd Corps expanded further it became more difficult. The Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina advanced towards Paležnica and Sjenina, but the Army of Republika Srpska repelled the attacks and defended those villages. Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was also trying to occupy Zelinja and peak of Duga Njiva. But the Army of Republika Srpska beat them from the hill and forced them to retreat.