Siege of Mostar The Siege of Mostar was fought between 1992 and 1993 . Initially , it involved the Croatian Defence Council ( HVO ) and the 4th Corps of the ARBiH fighting against the Yugoslav People ' s Army ( JNA ) after Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia . However , as the conflict matured and as the political landscape changed , the Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Muslims began to fight against each other , culminating in an episode of the Bosnian War that was known as the Croat - Bosniak Conflict . The Siege . After Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia , the town of Mostar was subjected to an 18 month siege . The Yugoslav People ' s Army ( JNA ) first bombarded Mostar on 3 April 1992 and over the following week gradually established control over large portions of the town . By 12 June 1992 , the Croatian Defence Council ( HVO ) and the 4th Corps of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( ARBiH ) in a joined action amassed enough strength to force the JNA out of Mostar . The JNA responded with heavy shelling . Amongst the destroyed buildings were a Franciscan monastery , the Catholic cathedral , the bishop ' s palace ( with a library collection of over 50 , 000 books ) , a number of secular institutions as well as the Karadžoz - bey mosque , as well as thirteen other mosques . In mid - June 1992 , after the battle line moved eastward , the Croatian Defense Council ( HVO ) demolished the Serbian Orthodox Žitomislić Monastery as well as the Saborna Crkva ( Orthodox Cathedral ) which was built from 1863 - 1873 . The Serb Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Trinity and the Church of the Birth of the Most Holy Virgin , both dating to the mid 19th century , were demolished by the Croats . The Cathedral was also known as the New Orthodox Church , while the latter was known as the Old Orthodox Church Croat - Bosniak War . Mostar was divided into a Western part , which was dominated by HVO forces and an Eastern part where the Bosnian Army ( ARBiH ) was largely concentrated . However , the Bosnian Army had its headquarters in Western Mostar in the basement of a building complex referred to as Vranica . In the early hours of 9 May 1993 , the Croatian Defence Council attacked Eastern Mostar using artillery , mortars , heavy weapons and small arms . The HVO then gained control of all roads leading into Mostar and international organizations were denied access . Radio Mostar was occupied by the Croats and the broadcaster announced that all Bosniaks should hang out a white flag from their windows to indicate their surrender . The Croatian Defense Council attack had been well prepared and planned . During the HVO ' s presence in Mostar , thousands of Bosnian Muslims and other non - Croats were expelled from the Western part of the city and forced into the Eastern part . The Croatian forces ' shelling reduced much of the east side of Mostar to rubble . The fierce siege and shelling campaign against the Bosnian Government - controlled Eastern Mostar continued . The HVO campaign resulted in thousands of injuries and fatalities . The ARBiH launched an operation known as Operation Neretva ' 93 against the HVO and the Croatian Army in September 1993 to end the siege of Mostar , and to recapture areas of Herzegovina that were under the control of the self - proclaimed Croatian Republic of Herzeg - Bosnia . The siege officially ended in December 1993 . Destruction of the Stari Most Bridge . The Stari Most ( " Old Bridge " ) of Mostar stood for 427 years , until it was destroyed on 9 November 1993 , during the siege . After its destruction a temporary cable bridge was erected by Spanish UN forces in its place and a rebuilt bridge was opened in 2004 . Responsibility for the destruction of the Bridge is attributed to Bosnian Croat artillery fire . Starting on 8 November 1993 the Croatian Defence Council ( HVO ) attack the bridge with tank fire . Sarajevo - based newspapers reported that more than 60 shells hit the bridge before it collapsed . After the destruction of the Stari Most , a spokesman for the Croats admitted that they deliberately destroyed it , claiming that it was of strategic importance . Academics have argued that the bridge held little strategic value and that its shelling was an example of deliberate cultural property destruction . Andras Riedlmayer terms the destruction an act of " killing memory " , in which evidence of a shared cultural heritage and peaceful co - existence were deliberately destroyed . Aftermath . After the end of the Bosnian War , plans were raised to reconstruct the Stari Most bridge . It was decided to build a bridge as similar as possible to the original , using the same technology and materials . The bridge was built with local materials . Tenelia stone from local quarries was used and Hungarian Army divers recovered stones from the original bridge from the river below . Reconstruction commenced on 7 June 2001 and the reconstructed bridge was inaugurated on 23 July 2004 . International officials from Chris Patten , the EU external affairs commissioner , to Paddy Ashdown , the governor of Bosnia , stressed that the reopening signalled a new era of hope and reconciliation . However , at the inauguration there was plenty of Croatian recalcitrance , in what remains a city partitioned along ethnic lines . A Croatian former - soldier who attended the inauguration was quoted as saying , " to be honest , we prefer it destroyed . They ' re making a lot of fuss about it and all the money goes on the bridge . But it ' s got nothing to do with us . It ' s a Muslim bridge . " The HVO leadership ( Jadranko Prlić , Bruno Stojić , Milivoj Petković , Valentin Ćorić and Berislav Pušić ) and the Croatian Army officer Slobodan Praljak are presently on trial at the ICTY on charges including crimes against humanity , grave breaches of the Geneva conventions and violations of the laws or customs of war ( with the prosecution alleging that he ordered the destruction of the Stari Most bridge . ) ARBiH commander Sefer Halilović was charged with one count of " Violation of the Laws and Customs of War " on the basis of superior criminal responsibility for the incidents that occurred during Operation Neretva ' 93 and was found not guilty .