From April 1992 – February 1993, the ARBiH and the civilians of Žepa successfully resisted the Bosnian Serb army due to applying to guerrilla warfare.

[8][9] However, in March 1993, VRS general Ratko Mladić ordered the Bosnian Serb forces besieging the town to launch a large-scale counterattack.

Unlike in Srebrenica, the commander of the peacekeeping unit, Ukrainian officer Mykola Verkhokhliad [uk] in negotiations with general Mladić secured evacuation of civilians from Žepa in UN convoy.

[13][14] NATO bombing operations continued targeting Bosnian Serb positions due to constant attacks on Sarajevo and the fall of the "UN safe havens" of Srebrenica and Žepa.

They resulted in a national assembly dominated by three ethnically based parties, which had formed a loose coalition to oust the communists from power.

[19] Alarmed, the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia on 15 October 1991, shortly followed by the establishment of the Serbian National Assembly by the Bosnian Serbs.

[7] Later renamed the Republika Srpska,[21] it developed its own military as the JNA withdrew from Croatia and handed over its weapons, equipment and 55,000 troops to the newly created Bosnian Serb army.

[21] In May 1992, the ground forces of Bosnian Serb state officially became known as the Army of Republika Srpska (Serbian: Војска Републике Српске, VRS).

[25] In March 1993, General Ratko Mladić of the VRS ordered the Bosnian Serb forces besieging the town to launch a large-scale counterattack.

The attack resulted in the Bosnian Serbs capturing 80 percent of the territory of the Srebrenica enclave once held by the 28th Division of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH).

The offensive ended the three-year long siege of the town and what followed was the deaths of 116 people, 800 refugees, and the incorporation of Žepa into Republika Srpska.

"On the 16 July 1995 at 10:05 p.m., realising that the 2nd Corps was not moving to help Žepa, Bećir Heljić and Avdo Palić wrote to Ramo Čardaković urgently requesting that attacks on the pocket be halted, exchanges of territory with the VRS and safe evacuation of the civilian population and members of the army.

In Any Case, The Population And Members Of The Army Must Leave The Pocket Safely, Regardless Of All Interests Of Wider Significance, Because We Know The Fate Of All The Escapeers Of Srebrenica; 4.

In the same report, Tolimir went even further, proposing chemical strikes against refugee columns of women, children and elderly leaving Žepa, because that would "force the Muslim fighters to surrender quickly", in his opinion.

Verkhohlyad negotiated with Mladić and Palić and ultimately secured a deal on the evacuation being guarded by peacekeepers, with Ukrainian soldier present in every bus with civilians leaving the town.

This prevented the trick used by Serbs in Srebrenica, where Dutch forces were present on the beginning and the end of the many kilometers long convoy, while the buses with civilians in the middle were quietly redirected to the execution place.

All other commanders, such as Avdo Palić, knowing that his men were outnumbered, outgunned[15] and low on ammunition also sought to negotiate a withdrawal and spare the 30,000 people in Žepa the fate of the massacre victims in Srebrenica.

[4] After the fall of the UN "safe havens" of Srebrenica and Žepa and constant attacks on Sarajevo, NATO launched a sustained air campaign known as Operation Deliberate Force, which targeted Bosnian Serb positions.