U.S. Begins Bosnia Withdrawal

The first 250 U.S. soldiers pulled out of Bosnia on Wednesday after serving almost a year on peacekeeping duty, signaling the start of a large-scale withdrawal of American troops.

U.S. spokesman Capt. Steve Metz said two units, the Headquarters Battery Division and the 127th Military Police Company, left Slavonski Brod for an intermediate staging base in Tiszar, Hungary. Both units will return to their home bases in Germany.

“This is the first official withdrawal of American troops from Bosnia. These units are redeploying home,” Metz said.

The Americans were part of the 15,000-strong U.S. force serving in Bosnia-Herzegovina as part of the NATO-led peace implementation force, or IFOR.

The pullout date has already slipped by weeks because of delays in municipal elections, which are now set for late November.

Metz said other troops were still arriving in Slavonski Brod to be redeployed to Hungary “within four days.”

The Pentagon has dispatched a “covering force” of about 5,000 U.S. troops to provide security for the withdrawal. The first contingent of that force left Germany for Bosnia on Tuesday. Some of those troops may stay on until March.