Operation Allied Force/Operation Noble Anvil was an aerial bombing by NATO against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. Kosovo, an independent region in Yugoslavia, was faced with the Yugoslavian state and Serbian ethnic-sponsored oppression. In 1996, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) launched its attack against the Serbian police, leading to a Serbian military offensive against the Drenica region in 1998. During this period, a significant number of civilians were massacred. In July 1998, the KLA embarked on an onslaught in Kosovo and took over more than half of the province until its defeat by the Serbian counteroffensive later that summer. The Serbian forces were charged with murdering innocent people and forcing Albanians out of their homes, with 44 of them being slain by the forces in January 1999, leading to the rise of international pressure on the issue. Discussions were held, and the Serbian army proved to be non-cooperative through its acts of invading Kosovo two days after the deployment of NATO soldiers.
The bombing started on March 24, 1999, and ended in August of the same year, lasting for five months. The bombing was a way of convincing President Milosevic to cease his military assaults against the Kosovo Liberation Army by accepting a deal that NATO was offering. The launch of NATO’s warplanes was without the support of the UN Security Council. This made Milosevic retaliate by attacking the Kosovo Albanians, claiming that the airstrikes by NATO were unlawful, an aspect that resulted in tremendous damages, including damage to railway stations, TV transmitters, and airports, among others. The aerial bombardment by NATO targeted Yugoslavia’s military installations, government facilities, and infrastructure to degrade the military capabilities of the Serbian military (Manolache & Chiş, 2015). During the airstrikes, the NATO members also tried to engage in diplomatic efforts as a way of gaining international support in order to continue exerting pressure on the Yugoslavian government to accept the peace deal. Besides the launch of airstrikes, NATO was also concerned with the establishment of humanitarian aid to those affected by the war by providing such services as essential supplies and the establishment of camps.
On June 10, 1999, the war came to an end after the signing of the Kumanovo agreement and UN Security Council Resolution 1244. Following these agreements, Yugoslav military personnel from Kosovo were replaced by foreign peacekeepers. Following numerous diplomatic negotiations and military pressure, Milosevic capitulated and agreed to a ceasefire while withdrawing his forces from Kosovo (Pejanović & Stojanović, 2020). The Kumanovo Agreement aimed at removing Yugoslav and Serbian security personnel from Kosovo, and although the bombing was prohibited, it was carried out without the consent of the UN Security Council. Although the bombing was a major factor in Milosevic’s retreat from the war, there were additional factors that influenced his decision to withdraw the forces (Slayton et al., 1999). Such were the damages that were being caused in the area and the pressure from Yugoslavia’s elite. In 2000, Milosevic was overthrown from office in Belgrade after a mass uprising, with his political policies having negative implications for the country’s foreign relations as they sought to isolate Serbia from all others.
In the aftermath of the war, Yugoslavia ended up splitting into the separate federations of Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia. Despite the military and diplomatic investments that have been made in the region, there is no political settlement on Kosovo’s status. The tensions still exist, especially between Serbia and Kosovo, and the parties have proved to be challenging to engage in a peaceful relationship with each other. Following the split of the countries, there was a bloody series of battles, which later came to be known as the Yugoslav Wars (Lambeth, 2001). The splitting of the federations was not an easy thing and was mostly established through war. The splits brought the ethnic identities into contrast with the already established Yugoslav identities, an aspect that made the people reevaluate their sense of identity, leading to advanced ethnopolitical breakups among the people. In regions such as the Balkans, the politics of ethnicities and nationalism further advanced the conflict among the people, dividing the Yugoslavs along new lines of citizenship and frontiers. Essentially, throughout the region, there were major ethnic and political divides, and this greatly impacted peace throughout Europe, especially based on the discussion of the integration of the former Yugoslav republics.
Operation Allied Force and Noble Anvil were, therefore, major milestones in the definition of peacekeeping efforts and international interventions. Essentially, the operation was a combination of military force, humanitarian aid, and diplomatic pressure by NATO in an attempt to restore peace in Kosovo following a series of attacks in the region. Although the operation by NATO was not approved by the UN Security Council, it was later acknowledged that the approach was essential in addressing such conflicts. The restrictive rules of engagement and the ill-conceived strategy made it difficult to engage a determined foe and a wily. The operation showed that air strikes and forces could never be a major and effective strategy that they intend to support, hence why it is important to consider other alternatives.
References
Lambeth, B. S. (2001). Operation allied force: lessons for the future. RAND Arroyo Center.
Manolache, D., & Chiş, C. (2015). NATO BOMBING IN THE FORMER REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA. Scientific Research & Education in the Air Force-AFASES, 1.
Pejanović, L., & Stojanović, S. (2020, September). THE NATO AGGRESSION AGAINST THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA TWENTY YEARS LATER AND CONSEQUENCES FOR TOURISM SECURITY AND THE HOTEL INDUSTRY. In Tourism International Scientific Conference Vrnjačka Banja-TISC (Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 366-381).
Slayton, K., Grigorievskiy, A., & Statistics, L. BOMBING OF YUGOSLAVIA EXPLAINED F-117 Nighthawk Shootdown over Serbia, 1999-Animated NATO & Russia Nearly Went to War-Kosovo 1999 Serbia, Russia and the war in Ukraine| DW Documentary.
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