Profile: Nasir Oric

Nasir Oric. [Source: Reuters / Corbis]Bosnian Serb forces enter Srebrenica, capturing the Dutch peacekeeping forces there. Thousands of Muslim civilians are brutally executed by the Serbs. [Christian Science Monitor, 10/2/1995; Christian Science Monitor, 10/24/1995; New York Review of Books, 9/24/1998; BBC, 6/9/2005] The commander of the Bosnian Muslim forces based in Srebrenica, Nasir Oric, forcibly prevented Muslim civilians from leaving Srebrenica prior to the Serb attack. [Globe and Mail, 7/12/1995] However, Oric and his troops quietly withdrew from Srebrenica just two days before the Serbs arrived, leaving the civilians to fend for themselves. There is fighting between Muslim forces who favor the retreat, and those who want to stay and defend the city. [New York Times, 7/24/1995] The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) will announce in 2005 that they have been able to identify the remains of 2032 victims of the Serb assault. [International Commission on Missing Persons, 6/21/2005]