Sarajevo Shelled as Conflict Spreads
Bosnian rivals dueled with mortars and missiles in Sarajevo Saturday, killing at least six people and wounding 46, while in central Bosnia, Serb and Croat gunners pounded the trapped Muslim enclave of Maglaj.
A Reuters photographer saw six dead and 27 wounded brought into one hospital and another 19 wounded were reported at another.
In a confrontation with civil police in Sarajevo, maverick units of Bosnia’s Muslim-led government army built barricades and took hostages, but backed down when one of their detained leaders was freed.
Witnesses said one policeman was killed and four were wounded in the confrontation. The government said there were no casualties.
U.N. sources said Bosnian Serbs and Croats had surrounded Maglaj, 50 miles north of the capital.
Bosnia’s Muslims and Croats were allies for most of the civil war, but they turned on each other in a battle for territory after Serbs and Croats put forward a plan last month to split the republic three ways along ethnic lines.
U.N. military sources said Croats and Muslims traded mortar and rocket fire around the villages of Novi Travnik and Dolac early Saturday.
Mortar and heavy machine-gun fire could be heard coming from hills close to Vitez, base of U.N. British peacekeepers.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
