Editing Mostar (section)

===Bosnian War===
[[File:Mostar-damagedhouses-2-2001.jpg|thumb|War damage on the former Mostar frontline, 2001]]
After Bosnia and Herzegovina declared [[1992 Bosnian independence referendum|independence]] from Yugoslavia in April 1992, the town was [[Siege of Mostar|besieged]] by the [[Yugoslav People's Army]] (JNA), following clashes between the JNA and Croat forces. The Croats were organized into the [[Croatian Defence Council]] (HVO){{sfn|Tanner|2001|p=286}} and were joined by a sizable number of Bosniaks.{{sfn|Goldstein|1999|p=243}} The JNA artillery periodically shelled neighbourhoods outside of their control from early April.{{sfn|CIA|2002|p=156-157}}

On 7 June the [[Croatian Army]] (HV) launched an offensive code named [[Operation Jackal]], the objective of which was to relieve Mostar and break the JNA [[siege of Dubrovnik]]. The offensive was supported by the HVO, which attacked the [[Army of Republika Srpska]] (VRS) positions around Mostar. By 12 June the HVO secured the western part of the city and by 21 June the VRS was completely pushed out from the eastern part. Numerous religious buildings and most of the city's bridges were destroyed or severely damaged during the fighting.{{sfn|CIA|2002|p=156-157}} Among them were the [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] [[Cathedral of Mary, Mother of the Church, Mostar|Cathedral of Mary, Mother of the Church]], the [[Franciscan]] Church and Monastery, the Bishop's Palace and 12 out of 14 mosques in the city. After the VRS was pushed from the city, the [[Serbian Orthodox]] [[Žitomislić Monastery]] and the [[Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Mostar|Cathedral of the Holy Trinity]] were demolished.{{sfn|Ruggles|2012|p=152-153}}

Throughout late 1992, tensions between Croats and Bosniaks increased in Mostar. In early 1993 the [[Croat–Bosniak War]] escalated and by mid-April 1993 Mostar had become a divided city with the western part dominated by HVO forces and the eastern part controlled by the [[Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina]] (ARBiH).<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica">{{cite web |title=Mostar |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Mostar |access-date=2021-06-17 |archive-date=2021-06-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614111106/https://www.britannica.com/place/Mostar |url-status=live }}</ref> Fighting broke out in May when both sides of the city came under intense artillery fire.{{sfn|Christia|2012|p=157-158}} The city was divided along ethnic lines, with a number of offensives taking place, resulting in a series of stalemates.{{sfn|Tanner|2001|p=290}}{{sfn|Christia|2012|p=159}}{{sfn|CIA|2002|p=201}} The Croat–Bosniak conflict ended with the signing of the [[Washington Agreement]] in 1994, and the Bosnian War ended with the [[Dayton Agreement]] in 1995. Around 2,000 people died in Mostar during the war.{{sfn|Yarwood|Seebacher|Strufe|Wolfram|1999|p=4}}

Two wars (Serb forces versus Bosniak and Croatian and Croat-Bosniak war) left Mostar physically devastated and ethno-territorially divided between a Croat-majority west bank (with ca. 55,000 residents) and a Bosniak-majority old City and east bank (with ca. 50,000 residents), with the frontline running parallel to the Neretva River. Most Serbs had fled the city.<ref>Commission for Reforming the City of Mostar: ''Recommendations of the Commission Report of the Chairman'', 15 December 2003, p.55.</ref>