The fighting occurred at the Vrbanja Bridge crossing of the Miljacka river in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War.

The VRS seized the French-manned United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) observation posts on both ends of the bridge, taking hostage 12 French peacekeepers.

[9] On 27 May 1995 at 04:30, VRS soldiers posing as French troops captured the UN observation posts on both ends of the Vrbanja Bridge without firing a shot.

[10] According to Colonel Erik Sandahl [fr], commander of the 4th French Battalion (FREBAT4) which was at that time provided by the 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment, "when the Serbs took our soldiers under their control by threat, by dirty tricks, they began to act as terrorists, you cannot support this.

About 05:20, the company commander, Captain François Lecointre, unable to make radio contact with the posts, drove to the bridge to find out what was happening.

[13] With bayonets fixed,[14] the French marines overran a bunker held by the VRS, at the cost of the life of one Frenchman, Private Jacky Humblot [fr].

The second French soldier to die in the battle, Private Marcel Amaru [fr], was killed by a sniper while supporting the assault from Sarajevo's Jewish cemetery.

[19] On 16 June 1995, United Nations Security Council Resolution 998 was passed, establishing a British-French-Dutch UN Rapid Reaction Force (UN RRF) under Smith's direction.

Authorised to a strength of 12,500 troops, the UN RRF was a heavily-armed formation with more aggressive rules of engagement, designed to take offensive action if necessary to prevent hostage-taking and enforce peace agreements.

The British sent artillery and an air-mobile brigade including attack helicopters, and the force did not paint its vehicles white or wear blue helmets, as was usual on UN missions.

[23] According to the top French officers involved in the battle, the action at the Vrbanja Bridge showed the VRS that UNPROFOR's attitude had changed.

"[2] Chirac's actions were not backed by all of his government, and the Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Jacques Lanxade, threatened to resign.

The UN RRF played an important part in ending the siege and in forcing the Bosnian Serbs to the negotiating table later that year.

[28] In 2017, Lecointre, made famous by the bayonet charge at the bridge and now an army general, was appointed as the French Chief of the Defence Staff.