USAF F-16s Train Over Bosnia in Warning Against ‘Secessionist Activity’

U.S. Air Force F-16s flew over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Jan. 8 in a show of force aimed at deterring “secessionist activity” by Bosnian Serbs that is at odds with U.S.-brokered peace accords, the U.S. government said.

Two F-16s from the 31st Fighter Wing at Aviano Air Base, Italy—supported by a USAF KC-135 from the 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall, U.K.—trained with ground forces that specialize in calling in airstrikes from the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina and U.S. Army Special Operations Forces, according to U.S. European Command.

The exercise was aimed at backing up America’s commitment to Bosnia’s territorial integrity amid increased tensions inflamed by nationalist Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, whom Russia backs.

Jan. 9 is celebrated as Republika Srpska Day by Bosnian Serbs with a paramilitary parade and marks the anniversary of the declaration of independence that started the conflict in Bosnia in 1992, which killed more than 100,000 people and led to ethnic cleansing and massacres of civilians.

NATO intervened with military force, first through the initiation of Operation Deny Flight, which aimed to enforce a United Nations no-fly zone during the conflict in the Balkans, and later through Operation Deliberate Force, an air campaign against the Bosnian Serb Army. In 1995, the U.S. brokered the Dayton Accords, agreed to at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, with the Serb majority Republika Srpska and Bosniak and Croat majority Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina agreeing to peace as semi-autonomous entities of a single state.

“This bilateral training is an example of advanced military-to-military cooperation that contributes to peace and security in the Western Balkans as well as demonstrates the United States’ commitment to ensuring the territorial integrity of [Bosnia and Herzegovina] in the face of anti-Dayton and secessionist activity,” the State Department said in Jan. 8 release. “The United States has underscored that the [Bosnia and Herzegovina] Constitution provides no right of secession, and it will act if anyone tries to change this basic element of Dayton.”

A day after the U.S. exercise, Dodik said on Jan. 9 that Bosnian Serbs would not give up “the day when Republika Srpska was born.”

“We are looking at Serbia, we are looking at Russia,” Dodik said.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned in November that the alliance was “concerned by the secessionist and divisive rhetoric as well as malign foreign interference, including Russia.”

The fighters took off from Aviano, conducted their mission, and returned back to base, according to U.S. officials. They practiced air-to-ground training with U.S. SOF forces and Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AFBiH) joint terminal attack controllers (JTACs), specially trained troops that call in airstrikes for close air support.

In a Jan. 8 statement, U.S. European Command (EUCOM) said that the “bilateral training is an example of advanced military-to-military cooperation that contributes to peace and security in the Western Balkans and throughout Europe.” U.S. Special Operations Command troops train Bosnian JTACs.

After the celebration of Republika Srpska Day on Jan. 9, the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo condemned the actions.

“The United States has acted to address anti-Dayton actions like this in the past and will not hesitate to do so again in the future,” the U.S. Embassy said in a Jan. 9 statement.

EUCOM said the Air Force exercise on Jan. 8 was aimed at reinforcing peace in the Balkans.

The joint drill was a “demonstration of the United States’ enduring partnership with the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Air Force Lt. Gen. Steven L. Basham, the deputy commander of EUCOM, said in a statement. “American support for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Armed Forces is ironclad, forged over years of close cooperation.”