  thumb|members of the dutch, french and u.s. military watch as an italian honour guard hoists the new stabilisation force flag during the stabilization force (sfor) activation ceremony in sarajevo, bosnia and herzegovina, on the 20 of december 1996. the stabilization force (sfor) was a nato-led multinational peacekeeping force deployed to bosnia and herzegovina after the bosnian war. although sfor was led by nato, several non-nato countries contributed troops. ==mission== the stated mission of sfor was to "deter hostilities and stabilise the peace, contribute to a secure environment by providing a continued military presence in the area of responsibility (aor), target and coordinate sfor support to key areas including primary civil implementation organisations, and progress towards a lasting consolidation of peace, without further need for nato-led forces in bosnia and herzegovina".  ==structure and history== sfor was established in security council resolution 1088 on december 12, 1996. it succeeded the much larger implementation force ifor which was deployed to bosnia and herzegovina on 20 december 1995 with a one year mandate. the commanders of the sfor, who each served one-year terms, were general william w. crouch, general eric shinseki, general montgomery meigs, lt. general ronald adams, lt. general michael dodson, lt. general john b. sylvester, lt. general william e. ward, major general virgil packett and brigadier general steven p. schook troop levels were reduced to approximately 12,000 by the close of 2002, and to approximately 7,000 by the close of 2004. during nato's 2004 istanbul summit the end of the sfor mission was announced. it was replaced by the european union's eufor althea, on 2 december 2004 at nato hq, camp butmir, sarajevo, b-h. thumb|right|sentry at "mud" govern by united states army by col. gary n. "butch" cassidy. this painting represents typical duty for the task force. sfor was divided into three zones of operation: *mostar mnb(s) - italian, franco-german, spanish *banja luka mnd(w) - british, canadian, czech, dutch. the british code name for their activities in ifor was operation resolute and sfor was operation lodestar. *tuzla mnd(n) - american, turkish, polish, russian, norwegian, swedish, danish. the three aos were known collectively as multi-national divisions until the end of 2002 where they were reduced in scope to multi-national brigades. sfor operated under peace enforcement, not peacekeeping, [[
History_of_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina Law_enforcement_in_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina Military_history_of_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina NATO-led_peacekeeping_in_the_former_Yugoslavia