Attack on Doboj (1992)

The Attack on Doboj was carried out on July 12, 1992, on St. Peter's Day, in the suburban settlement of Vila and Putnikovo brdo during the Bosnian War. It was a joint attack by Bosnian and Croatian military forces to capture Doboj and threaten the course of the Corridor 92 operation.

The attack
During the first day of the battle for the defense of the city, 34 Serbian fighters and members of the police were killed, and at least 76 were wounded. The then commander of the First Battalion of the Doboj Brigade of the VRS, Dimšo Živanović, says that the memories of Petrovdan 1992 are still fresh because it was one of the first, most difficult and, most likely, one of the most significant battles of this brigade. The enemy attacked with strong forces at the usual time, at 12:00 p.m., because they believed that the Serbs had prepared well. On July 12, 1992, the Muslim-Croat forces intended to combine the Tuzla and Zenica corps by capturing Doboj, which would have resulted in the fate and current map of Republika Srpska being much more uncertain. The battle was crucial for the survival of the city, Ozren, and the wider area, and the breakthrough of the Corridor was directly threatened. During the attack, the city was also targeted by artillery, and on that occasion several dozen civilians were killed and wounded. On mid-day July 12, a strong coalition of Muslim-Croat forces, the Croatian regular army and foreign mercenaries, some of whom, according to the captured documentation were also from England, attacked Doboj from five directions in five waves. The attack was very fierce - artillery and infantry, and the inner city was not spared from the actions. According to the assessment, the enemy intended to overcome the defense by occupying the dominant elevations, and to continue towards Prisade, surround the town, cut the communication with Banja Luka in order to link up with the forces that had already arrived in Kotorsko and Johovac from Brod and Derventa. Doboj was then defended by one reinforced battalion. After regrouping, the defenders stabilized the defense line around 17:00, and the last shock wave of the enemy occurred after midnight when they intended to evacuate their dead and wounded. The Battle of Petrovdan took place during the second phase of the battle for the Corridor of Life, the area around Derwent, and the enemy's intention was to compromise that action, which was prevented.