1996: US peacekeepers pour into Bosnia

The first convoy of American combat troops has entered Northern Bosnia to try to keep the peace between Bosnian Serbs and Muslims, following the signing of the Dayton peace plan last month.

Commander of Nato armed forces in Bosnia, Admiral Leighton Smith, appeared on Bosnian Serb TV to try to reassure Serbs the alliance would be even-handed in implementing the agreement.

American army units with high artillery have taken over a strategically important road that separates the two communities, but US soldiers will not be deployed in the most dangerous areas.

Americans in Bosnia now number 2,000, representing the superpower's first military operation in Europe since World War II.

Confrontation line

Lt Col Greg Stone, commander of the 1st Cavalry's 1st Squadron, said: "This is another step, another chapter in history".

Progress has been slowed by the bad weather, which has turned the US base into a muddy bog. The troops are said to be behind schedule.

The troops are headed to Tuzla air base, the main US base in Bosnia, where they will then be assigned to 16 bases, set up on both sides of the confrontation line.

The exact sites for some of the bases are still being worked on by military planners, officials said.

In Sarajevo the Joint Military Commission, bringing together peacekeepers and the warring parties, met to discuss the disbanding of civilian armed groups and the clearance of mines.

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