News Reports from Bosnia
News Broadcasts in English
The following is a list of news broadcasts and/or interviews in English discussing the war in Bosnia. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but a good starting point for news clips related to the event. Click on the title of the news item to be taken to the video.
Interview with Serb General Ratko Mladic in September 1995
- A 5-and-a-half-minute interview with Serb General Ratko Mladic from 1995 where he denies claims that his forces were committing war crimes against the Bosnian people. It is important to recognize that at this point, Mladic was already wanted for war crimes and has since been convicted for his crimes during the war.
BOSNIA: SARAJEVO: UN BASE FORCED TO SURRENDER TO REBEL SERBS
- Graphic Images
- The first half of the video is footage from the war, but the second half of the video is an interview with a Serb leader discussing the surrender of a UN base.
- Video Description from YouTube: A United Nations base in Sarajevo was forced to surrender after coming under fire from rebel Serbs. APTV has exclusive pictures of the French Foreign Legion soldiers locking themselves in their barracks but surrendering after Serbs shot up two armored personnel carriers outside the Lukevitza barracks.
The killing fields of Srebrenica – Newsnight archives (1996)
- BBC Newsnight 20 minute long broadcast with commentary on situation in Bosnia in 1996. The broadcast discussed the Genocide in Srebrenica and interviews a couple of the few survivors.
- Video Description from YouTube: In January 1996, Newsnight was one of the first teams to reach one of the killing sites of the Srebrenica massacre of July 1995. Subscribe to our channel here: https://goo.gl/31Q53F This is Mark Urban and Maria Polachowska’s award-winning film from 20 years ago. He investigates what happened to the 8,000 men taken prisoner by Bosnian Serb forces and interviews two of the only survivors of the mass shootings.
Bosnia-French Peacekeepers Kill And Die In Clash W
- One and a half minute news broadcast from 1995 detailing an encounter between UN peacekeepers and Bosnian Serbs that killed two peacekeepers.
- Video Description from YouTube: UN peacekeepers and Bosnian Serbs in Sarajevo on Saturday (27/5) fought a fierce battle that left two French soldiers and four Serbs dead. The six died during and just after a battle in which UN troops retook a critical observation post on the Verbanje Bridge, separating Serb-controlled Sarajevo from those parts of the city held by the mainly-Muslim government. One French peacekeeper was killed during the battle and another shot dead immediately afterward, in apparent retaliatory fire. Five French soldiers and four Bosnian Serb soldiers were wounded in the firefight. Later a French peacekeeper held hostage was wounded when a Bosnian government sniper apparently mistook him for a Serb soldier. UN spokesman Lt Col Gary Coward said a dozen Bosnian Serb soldiers had taken the post Friday night after dressing like French peacekeepers. Following NATO airstrikes against ammunition bunkers in the Serb stronghold of Pale on Thursday and Friday, Bosnian Serbs took UN military observers hostage and threatened to kill one for every further NATO bomb launched.
CNN, Coverage of Bosnia 1994 duPont Columbia Award Winner
- 3-minute long CNN Broadcast from 1994 showing Bosnian refugees arriving from Srebrenica where 60 people were killed the day before. Interview with captured Serb soldiers detailing how they were told to rape and kill women.
- Graphic Images of injured children, mentions of rape, and lots of blood.
- Minute-long English broadcast describing a shelling in a Sarajevo Suburb in October 1994. Surgeons shown operating on one of the victims.
BOSNIA: FAMILY REBUILDS LIFE AFTER WAR THANKS TO PET GOLDFISH
- Story of resilience from 1998, about a family that was forced to leave because of the war and had to dump their fish into the nearby lake in the hope that it would prevent the fish from starving. When they returned to their hometown where they left to find their nearby lake filled with thousands of tropical fish from their original tank that reproduced. This allowed them to rebuild their town using the sale of their fish from the lake.
Bosnian War: How Was The British Army Involved? (1992 Documentary) | Forces TV
- 23-minute long news broadcast that interviewed a number of different members of the British Army on their role on the ground in Bosnia. Interestingly main focus seems to be on food, weather, and Christmas with some comments on the logistics of the situation.
- Video Description from YouTube: At the end of 1992, Britain sent troops to the Bosnian War’s UN Protection Force on ‘Op Grapple’. After this deployment, the force was ultimately to be replaced by a NATO force with greater resources and firepower. In this archive documentary, Forces News travelled through the main supply route from the Croatian Coast to the frontline town of Vitez in Bosnia.
ITN News At Ten 1995 – Bosnia conflict – Terry Lloyd
- Two minute English News Broadcast describing the situation in Sarajevo in 1995. Included is an interview with a UN spokesperson detailing the bleak outlook in the city.
Channel 4 News report on the Bosnian War 1992
- 27-minute news report about the situation in Bosnia
BOSNIA: SARAJEVO: 1000TH DAY OF SIEGE BY SERBS
- News report of one family getting reunited with their family after returning from hospital in France where she was being treated after being hit with Shrapnel in her Garden.
Dan Rather Evening News Broadcast 1995
- Aired in July of 1995, a portion of the 13-minute piece describes the US senate vote to lift the arms embargo and an update on the situation in Bosnia from an American perspective.
- This twenty-minute CSPAN video from August 1992, includes news broadcaster discussing the situation in Bosnia in 1992 and includes then President Bush’s press conference discussing how the US and the UN are monitoring the situation providing updates on the response to what he calls “growing unrest.”
Washington Week – September 1995
- This 5-minute news broadcast details the peace negotiations to end the war in Bosnia.
Bosnian-Serb Leader Radovan Karadzic Sits Down With Peter Jennings in 1993
- A short 2-minute ABC interview clip with Bosnian-Serb leader Radovan Karadzic (who was later convicted of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity), about the situation in Bosnia.
War in Bosnia – Charlie Rose Broadcast
- A 16-minute news broadcast of a political discussion on the situation in Bosnia in August 1992.
Bosnia-French Peacekeepers Kill And Die In Clash
- English Broadcast describing French Peacekeepers engaged in conflict with Serbs in Sarajevo on 27 May 1995.
Bosnian Presidential Speech to the UN in September 1994
- The 20-minute news broadcast by CSPAN begins with an update on the situation in Bosnia before the inclusion of a speech by Bosnian President, Alija Izetbegovic. He describes the situation in Bosnia and calls for assistance from the international community.
1996 Clinton Bosnia Trip (CBS News)
- News broadcast from 1996 discussing Hillary Clinton’s trip to Bosnia.
- Video Description from YouTube: Hillary Clinton’s 1996 trip to Bosnia is at the center of a dispute over her statements that her plane came under sniper fire. This report by Sharyl Attkisson makes no mention of sniper fire.
President Clinton’s Press Conference On Bosnia (1994)
- 20 minute press conference by President Bill Clinton on 20 April 1994
- Video Description from YouTube: This is video footage of President William Jefferson Clinton delivering remarks at a press conference. This footage is official public record produced by the White House Television (WHTV) crew, provided by the Clinton Presidential Library.
President Clinton’s Trip to Bosnia (1997)
- 22 minutes of footage from President Clinton’s 1997 trip to Bosnia dated December 22nd.
- Video Description from YouTube: This is video footage of President Clinton during a trip to Bosnia-Herzegovina. This footage is official public record produced by the White House Television (WHTV) crew, provided by the Clinton Presidential Library.
President Clinton’s Remarks in Bosnia (1997)
- 24 minute long, Clinton remarks while on December 1997 trip to Bosnia.
News Broadcasts with a Translation of Commentary
This is a collection of news broadcasts and interviews that are not in English but may have a partial or complete translation provided alongside the clips.
BOSNIA: US IFOR SOLDIERS MOBBED BY BOSNIAN SERB CIVILIANS
- A roughly 4-minute video which includes interviews with a number of different people on the ground in Bosnia in 1996, some of it is dubbed in English, some is in English, some is not, rough transcript in the description.
BOSNIA: CAPTURED SOLDIERS PARADED BY SERB PARAMILITARY LEADER
- The 3-minute video showed Serb paramilitary leader, Zeljko Raznatovic and his men berating captured Bosnian Soldiers in 1995.
- Captured Bosnian soldiers berated by Serbs and required to say name and information for the camera
- Video Description from YouTube: The notorious Serb paramilitary leader, Zeljko Raznatovic, known as Arkan, paraded Bosnian government soldiers captured by his men during recent fighting on Friday. As Arkan humiliated the cowering captives, some of his ‘Tiger’ militiamen claimed to have taken back territory from government troops 40 kilometers south of the Serb stronghold of Banja Luka. Bullying was the name of Arkan’s game.
Bosnia – Serbs’ Reaction To Peace Agreement
- Interview with Bosnian Serb soldier getting their perspective on the peace accords. English translation included in the caption.
- Video Description from YouTube: Frontline soldiers on the Bosnian Serb side of Sarajevo said on Thursday (14/12) they would not give up their section of the city without a fight. In the trenches overlooking Sarajevo, they watched on television the signing of the Bosnia peace agreement in Paris. The soldiers don’t want to stay when Sarajevo returns to full government — Bosnian Muslim — rule, a condition of the accord reached last month in Dayton, Ohio. In Serb-held Grbavica, the signing in Paris was viewed with concern. Most civilians also don’t want to give up their territory.
BOSNIA:TUZLA: DOCTORS TRY TO COPE WITH INFLUX OF REFUGEES
- Primarily just footage from Tuzla in July 1995, but there is a short interview in English with a doctor being asked about the situation on the ground and their ability to help those in need.
BOSNIA: 3 YEARS SINCE SREBRENICA FELL TO BOSNIAN SERBS
- Primarily just footage released in 1998, of Srebrenica falling to Bosnian Serbs in 1995. There is an interview not in English, which a translation to English provided in the description.
BOSNIA: SUSPECTED MASS GRAVE FOUND IN CAVE NEAR LUSCI PALANKA
- This clip from 1996 includes a mix of languages, with a translation to English provided in the caption. It details a mass grave being located in Bosnia and the measures the perpetrators took in order to hide their crimes.
Clips from the War in Bosnia
This is a collection of some of the unedited footage from the war. As this is footage from a war zone, some of this footage may be particularly graphic and viewer discretion is advised.
Bosnia – Many Killed in Sarajevo Shelling – Bosnia – Many Killed In Sarajevo Shelling
- This 4 minute video from August 1995 includes footage from the aftermath of a Shelling in Sarajevo. The video begins showing blood pooled in the street and eventually travels to a nearby area where victims are being treated for their injuries.
- Graphic Images of blood and injuries from the aftermath of the shelling in Sarajevo
Bosnia – Sniper Attack In Sarajevo
- Almost 3 minutes of footage from Sarajevo in May 1995 showing a sniper attack. The attack killed two and wounded several others.
- Graphic Images of people being shot and carried through the street
Bosnian Muslim Women, Children and Elderly being transported out of Srebrenica & Potočari
- Almost 3 minutes of footage from mid-July 1995 showing Bosnian women and children fleeing to safe territory. English subtitles are used to translate some of the words spoken by those fleeing.
- Video Description from YouTube: Video footage from Reuters taken on 12 or 13 July 1995 showing Bosnian Muslim Women, Children and Elderly being transported out of Srebrenica & Potočari into territory held by the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina (specifically evacuated to Kladanj).
BOSNIA: 2 NEW MASS GRAVES DISCOVERED IN NORTH WEST OF COUNTRY
- Roughly 3 minutes of footage from 1996 showing community members excavating mass graves. One of the items found and shown to the camera is a pacifier suggesting that young children were among those killed.
- Content Warning: decomposed human remains
BOSNIA: RENEWED SNIPER FIRE IN SARAJEVO
- A minute of footage of sniper fire in the streets of Sarajevo from June 1995.
BOSNIA: 2 FRENCH UN PEACEKEEPERS WOUNDED BY SNIPER FIRE
- Two minutes of footage including snipers firing on civilians and UN peacekeepers in Sarajevo from June 1995.
Bosnia – United Nations Troops Under Fire
- Footage of UN peacekeeping forces under attack on the outskirts of Sarajevo from July 1994.
Post War Items
These broadcasts are not from the war in Bosnia but are still beneficial in understanding the broader context.
Grim history of Bosnia’s ‘rape hotel’ – BBC News
- A disturbing news clip which discussed genocide denial using the example of a Spa that the journalists actually visited which had previously been an old hotel where mass rape and torture occurred during the Bosnian war. Some of the footage included clips of tourists relaxing blissfully unaware of the Spa’s past in addition to interviews of those involved who deny any of the place’s history.
Former Bosnian Serb general Mladić convicted of genocide, war crimes for ethnic cleansing campaign
- A PBS Newshour clip discussing the sentencing of Ratko Mladic, nicknamed, “the Butcher of Bosnia.” Mladic was found guilty of 10 of the 11 charges placed against him including crimes against humanity.
The Butcher of Bosnia – BBC Newsnight
- A BBC news investigation follows up on the legacy and impact of Ratko Mladic as he awaits a verdict by the UN tribunal.