Vlasenica
Vlasenica (
Serbian Cyrillic:
Ð'лаÑеница) is a municipality and town in the northeastern part of
Bosnia and Herzegovina. Administratively it is part of Republika Srpska,
Vlasenica Region.
In the 1991 census the municipality had a population 33,817. The distribution was
Bosniaks 18,699 (55.29%),
Serbs 14,356 (42.25%),
Croats 40 (0.12%),
Yugoslavs 336 (0.99%) and others 386 (1.14%). The town itself had a population of 7,916. The distribution was Bosniaks 4,794 (61%), Serbs 2,777 (35%), Croats 28(0.003%) Yugoslavs 243 (0.03%) and others 74 (0.093%).
During the 1992-1995
Bosnian War the city and the municipality were taken over by the Serbs who expeled the entire Bosniak population. Several hundred Bosniaks were killed and there were reports of rapes. The Serbs set up a concentracion camp called Sušica where many atrocities took place. For the duration of the war the city served as a headqueorters for the
VRS Army of Republika Srpska for operations against
Kladanj,
Srebrenica and
Zepa as well as a major transit point for supplies coming from
Serbia.
Recently a there have been a number of Bosniaks who have returned to Vlasenica. However their return has been made difficult by the local authorities. The current population is overwhelmingly Serb due to an influx of Serbs from the
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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Vlasenica page in Bosnian*
Susica Camp chief names mass grave site