Word: serb
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...very simple," he said. "Is such a life worth living, or is it not better to fight?" His wife Rada and their neighbors Senada Hukovic and Ksenija Crvenkovic agreed. "Politics has not managed to tear us apart," said Crvenkovic. "And see, I'm a Croat, Rada is a Serb, and Nijaz and Senada are Muslims. That's Sarajevo...
Last week's fighting looked very much like an attempt by the Bosnians to break the three-year siege. President Alija Izetbegovic almost said as much. His army, he declared, had been "ordered to undertake measures to prevent any further strangulation of the city." There was no question the Serbs' grip was throttling Sarajevo. For three weeks the city's natural gas and electricity had been cut off, and water had to be pumped by hand. Humanitarian-aid shipments were halted by the Serb blockade, and food warehouses were empty. Air shipments of supplies have been impossible for two months...
Even so, is the lightly armed Bosnian army really launching a thrust straight into the ring of armor the Serbs have clamped on the city? The Serbs, 12,000 strong, hold all the high ground and have hundreds of heavy artillery pieces and mortars zeroed in on approach routes. An uphill battle against the Serbs would not only produce huge Bosnian casualties but would also open the entire capital to retaliatory shelling from Serb positions. The bloodshed would be sickening, and there is no certainty the Bosnians could succeed no matter how professional their forces have become or how high...
There were also prolonged exchanges of artillery around three other towns north and east of Sarajevo, leading some military analysts to suspect that the Bosnian-government forces were trying to stretch the Serb defenders as thin as possible, probing for a weak point to exploit. They made progress in places, and U.N. observers said they had cut some Serb supply routes...
...military standoff could provide the opening diplomats are looking for. With war-weariness and lower morale setting in, even the Serbs may be interested now. The Contact Group still hopes it can persuade Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic to provide the extra push that will get his Bosnian Serb kin to the bargaining table. If the new offensive that exploded last week shows both sides they are on a path to greater violence in a war neither can win, the moribund negotiations could take on new life...