Siege of Stari Vitez

In early April, After the referendum in Bosnia. The Bosnian War started. The ARBiH and HVO fought together against the VRS though tensions were rising as the Bosnian Croats under Mate Boban sought independence from Bosnia. In early October 1992 the Croat-Bosniak War started. On 20 October 1992 the HVO attacked the Barricades near Ahmići. Burning homes and a mosque was shelled. The attack lasted the whole morning in till the ARBiH soldiers ran out of Ammunition and they later removed the checkpoint ^[1][2]. the HVO took control of Police stations in Vitez and with that starting the Vitez fightings. ARBiH was slowly lossing control over the town. By 22 October when the Ceasefire in Vitez was implemented, The HVO had almost full control of the town except for Stari Vitez ^[3]

the HVO had laid siege on the Bosniak Majority area of Stari Vitez on 16 April 1993 where around 1,300 Bosniaks lived in the small, kilometer wide enclave^[4]. On Friday, 16 April 1993 the first fightings began in Stari Vitez at 5:30am. On 18 April the HVO sent a tanker with 500 Kilograms of explosives to Stari Vitez. The explosion happened near a mosque destroying the War office, killing 6 and injuring 50 Muslims. ^[5]. The next 3 months were more peaceful as fighting happened rearly. On 18 July the HVO stopped its offensive on Stari Vitez. During that time Over 300 shells were dropped on the area and the HVO lost 15 men including their commander Zlatko Nakić^[6]. The HVO threatened the ARBiH that they will Destroy Stari Vitez as a response to the Uzdol massacre. They were given time to retreat from the area, but they didn't and the area was heavily shelled^[4].
The HVO on 28 and 29 January 1994 attenpted to assault Stari Vitez from the factory "SPS" but failed. They still shelled the ARBiH from 23 to 25 February 1994 and during that time they told the 325th Brigade to surrender but they refused. The ceasefire was implemented on 25 February 1994 and with that ending the Siege of Stari Vitez.^[7]