Thread by @SniperAlleyPhot

On the 2nd of May in 1992, JNA (Yugoslav People’s Army) from #Serbia supported by local #Serbian militants tried to deal the final blow to the #Bosnian defenders, occupy #Sarajevo and force legal government to surrender.

It was a beautiful sunny day...

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2 MAY 1992
That morning was calm & peaceful, just the day before people were having May the 1st, Labor Day, celebrations. Nobody was expecting to witness the start of the Siege, that would last almost next four years, 1,425 days

It started in the afternoon of 2 May 1992.

#Siege

2 MAY 1992
Serb forces established a total blockade of the city. They blocked the major access roads, cutting supplies of food and medicine. The Sarajevo public transportation network was hit at its main locations and throughout the city.

📷 Danilo Krstanović

Half of the city was destroyed and in flames, including the Main Post Office building. Infiltrated forces activate explosives they had planted there and majority of #Sarajevo phone connection with the world were cut off, 40,000 telephone lines went quiet.

📷 Richard Schneider

2 MAY 1992
All of the windows in the old heart of #Sarajevo, in Bascarsija, were broken.

#SarajevoUnderSiege

📷Šukrija Điđović

2 MAY 1992
Mortar and artillery attacks target buildings, residential areas, homes, companies and shops were reported ablaze.

#SarajevoUnderSiege

📷Hidajet Delić Degi

2 MAY 1992
BiH President Alija Izetbegovic is kidnapped by JNA forces from #Serbia and taken to the Lukavica barracks outside of the city. He was kidnapped at the Sarajevo airport while returning from the EU-mediated peace talks in Lisbon.

#SarajevoUnderSiege

2 MAY 1992
The JNA's regional commander, General Milutin Kukanjac from #Serbia, is live on Bosnian TV, negotiating with Bosnian Presidency members and the information of the kidnapping reaches the nation and the world.

#SarajevoUnderSiege

2 MAY 1992
JNA tanks move in and try to break the city in two halves. The heaviest battles took place in Skenderija where several tanks and transporters came just few meters away from the Presidency and International Press Center buildings.

#SarajevoUnderSiege

2 MAY 1992
Although Serbian forces possessed superior weaponry, Bosnian defenders successfully repel their attacks outside of the Presidency building.

#SarajevoUnderSiege

📷 David Brauchli

2 MAY 1992
In the adjacent area, infiltrated JNA elite forces from #Serbia are defeated and take hostages in a nearby skyscraper.

#SarajevoUnderSiege

📷 Richard Schneider

3 MAY 1992
Fighting between Serbian forces and Bosnian defenders continues into early Sunday. Upon seeing they main armored prong annihilated, some of them scatter back to JNA barracks.

#SarajevoUnderSiege

📷David Brauchli

3 MAY 1992
The Gazi Husref Begova Mosque, the oldest in the Balkans, built in 1531, was hit twice by cannon fire and a chunk was blown out of the base of its minaret.

#SarajevoUnderSiege

📷Mario Boccia

3 MAY 1992
At least 10 people were known to have been killed in Sarajevo. Residents are in shock. They can’t believe their neighbours and friends are doing this to them.

#SarajevoUnderSiege

📷David Brauchli

3 MAY 1992
Sniper fire from #Serbian positions, JNA barracks and local Serbian extremists prevent ambulances from reaching large numbers of dead and wounded in the city.

#SarajevoUnderSiege

📷David Brauchli

"A woman with a small child in her arms is the one photo etched in my memory. With a frightened, helpless look directed towards me, as if asking me
what's happening or what should she do, where should she go, all with the desire to protect her child."

📷Milomir Kovačević Strašni

3 MAY 1992
Buildings all along Marsal Tito Street have huge holes blown into them.

#SarajevoUnderSiege

📷Jordi Pujol Puente

3 MAY 1992
Debris is scattered but defenders are defiant and in high spirits after beating the most elite forces from Serbia the day before.

#SarajevoUnderSiege

📷David Brauchli

3 MAY 1992
Many JNA soldiers are killed and wounded, most of them are captured. That was when a decisive battle for the defence of Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina tool place. It is known as the Battle for the Presidency.

#SarajevoUnderSiege

📷Jordi Pujol Puente

With scarce means and without military equipment, citizens managed to defend the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

#SarajevoUnderSiege

📷Jordi Pujol Puente

What followed was more than three years of ‘Siege’. Serbs fired down from the hills onto the city's population, killing innocent civilians as well as the fighters defending the Bosnian capital.

#SarajevoUnderSiege

📷Paolo Siccardi

The lines of white gravestones in many of Sarajevo's open spaces tell that story today.

#SarajevoUnderSiege

📷Enrico Dagnino

The Battle for the Presidency ended with the triumph of Sarajevans, and President Izetbegovic was exchanged the day later in the Dobrovoljacka street.

#SarajevoUnderSiege

That was the day when the siege of Sarajevo also became apparent. From that day, Sarajevo residents were forced to live without water, food and electricity, with constant shelling and sniper fire for the next 1,425 days.

#SarajevoUnderSiege

📷Abbas Attar

The 2nd and 3rd of May 1992 represent the turning point in the defense of Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is known as the Battle for the Presidency.

The 2nd of May is celebrated as day of ‘Sarajevo Canton’.

#SarajevoIsNotUnderSiege