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1997 Mostar car bombing

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Coordinates:43°20′52.18″N17°48′07.84″E/ 43.3478278°N 17.8021778°E/43.3478278; 17.8021778
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1997 Mostar car bombing
Part ofIslamic terrorism in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mostar is located in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mostar
Mostar
Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
LocationMostar,Bosnia and Herzegovina
Coordinates43°20′52.18″N17°48′07.84″E/ 43.3478278°N 17.8021778°E/43.3478278; 17.8021778
Date18 September 1997(1997-09-18)
23:40 (CEST)
Attack type
Car bombattack
DeathsNone
Injured29
MotiveReligious motives and retribution against theHVO

Acar bombexploded inMostar,Bosnia and Herzegovinaon 18 September 1997, injuring 29 people and destroying or damaging 120 apartments, as well as 120 vehicles. The attack is thought to have targeted Croat civilians and policemen as retribution against theCroatian Defence Council(HVO), which had fought Bosnian Muslim forces for control of the city during theCroat–Bosniak War.The attack was carried out by radical Islamists.[1]

The attack was organized by Ahmad Zuhair Handala, with his associates,Ali Ahmed Ali HamadfromBahrain,[2]Nebil Ali Hil, nicknamed Abu Yemen, Saleh Nedal and Vlado Popovski fromNorth Macedonia.[3]At least two of the arrested had links toAl-Qaeda.The attackers did not mention whether the bombing was religiously motivated or whether it was retribution against theCroatian Defense Council.[4]

History

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On 18 September 1997, acar bombexploded on Splitska Street, in front of a police station in majority-Croat westernMostar.During theBosnian War,the building housed the Ministry of Internal Affairs of theCroatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia.Twenty-nine people were either seriously or lightly wounded in the attack, including three police officers.[5]The explosion created a crater 240 centimetres (94 in) wide and 85 centimetres (33 in) deep. In total, 120 apartments sustained some level of damage, of which 56 were completely destroyed. About 120 vehicles were also affected,[6]including 46 that were completely destroyed.[5]

NATO-ledStabilization Force(SFOR) peacekeepers were the first to arrive at the scene. An investigation commenced the following day, and was carried out by the criminal police of theHerzegovina-Neretva Cantonwith help from experts fromZagrebandSplit.Immediately after the attack, domestic and foreign security agencies began searching for the perpetrators. Bosniak politicians, including prime ministerHaris Silajdžićand media outlets, accused the Croats of carrying out the attack.[7][8]As it occurred shortly after the Croat and Bosniak city police forces were united, and after theCroatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina(HDZ BiH) secured victory at the general elections, SFOR suspected three possible motives. In their opinion, it was either politically motivated and designed to sabotage the re-unification of the city's police force; mafia-related; or carried out by Islamic extremists with the goal of creating as many casualties and causing as much damage as possible. SFOR considered the latter hypothesis the least likely of the three, as it expected that a terrorist group would have taken responsibility immediately after such an attack.[7]

Handala's name was made public by the leader of theWahhabicommunity in Bosnia and Herzegovina,Alu Husin Imad,known as Abu Hamza. Abu Hamza told reporters that "[the Wahhabist community] doesn't justify, but understands the crime". Handala and his associates apparently carried out the attack as retribution to theCroatian Defence Council(HVO), which had fought the predominantly Muslim Bosniaks during the war.[6]

Arrests and trial

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In September 1998, Italian attorneys issued an international warrant for a group of criminals suspected of multiple crimes in Italy, including terrorist acts. Among the group was Saleh Nedal. He was arrested inTravnikin April 1999. Investigating judge Mirjana Grubešić and district attorney Marinko Jurčević, asked the County Court in Travnik to comply with the Italian request to extradite Saleh but the court, presided by Senad Begović, ruled against Saleh's extradition in July 1999. The same judge later signed a decree which terminated Saleh's imprisonment. TheSupreme Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina,presided by judge Nazif Sulman, affirmed the decree in August 1999. Saleh later warned Zuhair, who fled Bosnia before the start of his trial on 18 September 1998.[3]

During the police investigation,Ali Ahmed Ali Hamadadmitted to committing the crime and made the same admission before the investigating judge. However, he denied any involvement at the trial, stating that the police had coerced him by promising a quick trial followed by his release. He was not charged with terrorism, but for constructing a car bomb, a criminal act which endangered the general safety and as a result, all the accused received lighter sentences. Zuhair was triedin absentiaand sentenced to ten years in prison, while Ali Hamad received eight- andNebil Ali Hilfive years in prison.[9][10]Handala was eventually arrested after theSeptember 11 attacks,and in 2007 was being detained in theGuantanamo Bay detention camp.[11]

See also

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Footnotes

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  1. ^Vranješ, Lalić & Šikman 2021,p. 65.
  2. ^ISN 2009.
  3. ^abLučić 2001,p. 132.
  4. ^Serbia RTS, Radio televizija Srbije, Radio Television of Serbia."Хронологија терористичких напада у БиХ"(in Serbian).Retrieved2018-05-09.
  5. ^abHercegovina.info 2014.
  6. ^abBljesak.info 2012.
  7. ^abKrešić 2011.
  8. ^Lučić 2001,p. 131.
  9. ^Gradišić2012.
  10. ^Lučić 2001,pp. 132–133.
  11. ^Schindler 2007,p. 266.

Books

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Journals

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  • Lučić, Ivo (2001). "Bosnia and Herzegovina and Terrorism".National Security and the Future.2(3–4). Zagreb: St. George Association.ISSN1332-4454.

News articles

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