Battle on Poskok on the Bjelašnica Mountain, in the vicinity of the village of Dejčići, began on July 10 and ended on July 31, 1993. This was a response to the operation Lukavac 93 led by the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) with 15.000 men. Their aim was to cut off Sarajevo and surround the city completely.
With Ratko Mladić on the head, the VRS was attacking the mountain point Poskok that was being defended by the 182nd Knight (Foča) Brigade of the Army of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH). First line of defense was established on Poskok and it was kept until the moment when the 182nd Knight Brigade could no longer stay on stat location because of many killed and injured fighters.
Operation of the VRS lasted for 20 days and that offensive was being opposed by the mentioned 182nd Knight Brigade. During this battle, 46 soldiers of ARBiH were killed and 200 were wounded. At that time, Igman and Sarajevo were being defended on Poskok because the enemy wanted to intersect the corridor that led towards the capital city of BiH via the mentioned mountain.
One of the fighters was Osman Đuderija who stopped an entire tank battalion by destroying the first tank, after which the remaining tanks that followed the first one decided to withdraw. Some people think that if this did not happen the tank battalion would descend from the mountain all the way to Hrasnica.
Đuderija is the only recipient of the Golden Lily who survived the battles. Fighters and Lilies such as Dževad Hanjalić, Munib Korjenć and Zijad Hanjalić lost their lives in one of the greatest forgotten battles of the past war.
After the withdrawal of the 182nd Knight Bridate, the VRS took over Poskok. ARBiH took over the control of Poskok again in December 1994.
“That was a crucial battle for Igman after which the UNPROFOR arrived, followed by other units that took all the credits, while we were forgotten,” said Đuderija.
Former fighters of the 182nd Knight Brigade now want to establish an organization in order to right the wrong and exercise the rights that they do not have at the moment. Those rights refer to the inheriting of the brigade’s tradition, which is not an exclusive treatment, but a desire to never forget the killed fighters and their graves.
The tour of Poskok is included in the event “Defense of BiH – Igman 2016”, but since the Poskok tour is limited to only half an hour, majority of the invitees literally cannot make it to visit this important location.
Despite this, fighters and devotees of the 182nd Knight (Foča) Brigade of the ARBiH invite the citizens of Sarajevo and BiH to come to Poskok that day and stay there for more than half an hour, to listen to the history class held by the participants in this battle.
(Source: klix.ba/photo: klix.ba)
