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n the last decade of the 20th century, the newly recognized country of Bosnia and Herzegovina was under attack by two neighbors, intent on destroying it and dividing the spoils between them. Croatia attacked from the north and west, making Mostar, the provincial capital of Herzegovina, the center of their assault. From the east, Serbian forces attacked, focusing on the national capital, Sarajevo. Both enemies of the fledgling nation claimed that the attacks were made by local militia, but it was clear that the materials of war and its strategies came from the two largest countries of the former Yugoslavia. The sieges of Mostar and Sarajevo, which lasted for years, and other towns such as Srebrenica, were resisted by the undersupplied armies of the small nation, at a great cost in lives, many of them civilians.