Izet Nanić

Izet Nanić (4 October 1965 – 5 August 1995) was a Bosnian brigade commander in the Bosnian Army during the Bosnian War of Independence.

Family
An ethnic Bosniak, Izet Nanić was born to Ibrahim Nanić (1939–2000) and Rasima (born 1945) in the town of Bužim, as second of seven children.

He was married to Safija Remetić, from Varoška Rijeka. Together they had three children; a daughter and two sons.

Career
Nanić finished high school in 1984, in Zagreb and then went to Belgrade after being accepted in the military academy there. After being in the military academy for two years, he went to Sarajevo for 1 year. Then he went back to Zagreb again in 1987 where he finished his military academy training.

Until January 1991, Nanić was an officer of the Yugoslav People's Army, when he returned to his home in Bužim due to a broken leg. He was a lieutenant of the Yugoslav Air Force and anti-aircraft defence in Kragujevac, Serbia. At the beginning of Bosnian War, he joined the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. His younger brother Nevzet was killed near Bosanska Krupa on 30 June 1992, shortly after the start of the war in Bosnia. Initially Nanić was involved in training and forming new units however after his brother's death he became the commander of the 505th Brigade of the 5th Corps led by Brigadier General Atif Dudaković. He led the command from its creation in 1992 to his death. Izet Nanić was killed during Operation Storm on 5 August 1995 only 5 months before the Dayton Agreement and the end of the Bosnian war.

Legacy


Bosniaks see Nanić as a legendary commander, as his brigade liberated and brought under Bosniak control, several cities and towns, including Velika Kladuša in Operation Tiger and Sanski Most, Bosanska Krupa, Bosanski Petrovac and Ključ in Operation Sana. In 1994 Nanić was awarded the Order of the Golden Lily and in 1998 posthumously the Order of Hero of the Liberation War, the latter being the highest honorary title that was awarded by the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In Sarajevo's Hrasnica neighborhood, within the Ilidža municipality, lies "General Izet Nanić" Street (Ulica Generala Izeta Nanića), situated just below Mount Igman, a nod to his codename "Igman." Similar streets bearing his name are found in his hometown of Bužim, near the mausoleum shared with his brother, in Cazin, and Bosanska Krupa. Additionally, a street in Ključ (Ulica Izeta Nanića), lacks the prefix "general."