U.S. bombers fly over Bosnia in signal of help amid continued secessionist threats

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — A pair of U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers flew low over Sarajevo and a number of other different Bosnian cities on Tuesday as an indication of help amid continued secessionist threats by the staunchly pro-Russia Bosnian Serb chief Milorad Dodik.

In addition, the plane additionally participated in a joint navy occasion within the northeastern city of Tuzla with Bosnia’s multi-ethnic military and U.S. Army Special Forces.

The flights have been an illustration of “a rock-solid commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Bosnia, mentioned the U.S. ambassador to the Balkan nation, Michael Murphy.

Murphy added that United States “remain steadfast and committed” to the connection with the Bosnian armed forces “in the face of political stability within (Bosnia) and acute threat from malign actors outside” the nation.

Dodik, who’s the president of Bosnia’s Serb-run half, Republika Srpska, has repeatedly advocated for the breakup of the nation and voiced his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Earlier this month, he travelled to Moscow to fulfill with Putin and reiterate his help for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

He reacted angrily to the flight over Bosnia by U.S. bombers, accusing Washington of “disrespecting” the nation’s territorial integrity and treating it “as a guinea pig that they can suffocate and cut off its air supply for as long as they want.”

PHOTOS: US bombers fly over Bosnia in signal of help amid continued secessionist threats

A U.S.-brokered peace deal in 1995 ended an almost 4-year-long internecine conflict in Bosnia that left at the very least 100,000 folks lifeless and thousands and thousands homeless. It left the nation deeply divided between its three predominant ethnic teams – Muslim Bosniaks, Orthodox Serbs and Catholic Croats. The Dayton Peace Accords break up Bosnia into two extremely autonomous entities – Republika Srpska and one dominated by largely Bosniaks and Croats – linked by shared, state-wide establishments.