Site inspection in Nedarici

Nedarici - The Federation Army of Bosnia and Hercegovina, Battalion of Military Police of Nedarici is based near Sarajevo Airport. On November 16 a joint French-Spanish inspection team went to Nedarici with the written authorisation to inspect ammunition storage of the Bosnian battalion. French Capt. Jacques Amara, commander of the team, had organised everything before the mission and only needed to give minimum commands to his experienced men in order for them to carry out their job.

After a meeting with the Bosnian Liaison officer, Capt. Alispahie Zakir for a presentation of the inspection, the control team carefully checked quantity and types of ammunition until all figures had been cross-checked with those of the last inspection. "During inspections, it's possible to find anything. You may come across mines, ammunition, explosives, and weapons," said Capt. Antonio Martin, team deputy commander.

This particular site holds principally light weapons such as assault rifles. The Franco-Spanish team also ticked off some home-made weapons from their control list. These include a pen-pistol, and a sniper rifle.

"This is a small storage site, but it is interesting to compare our results with the last inspection," explained Amara. "All dangerous materials or those that are not acceptable, such as anti-personal mines will be confiscated. If we have any doubt, I can do a seven-day warning notice of confiscation. This gives them time to prove the legitimacy of the items in their possession."

During the inspection, the Bosnian liaison officer, with his deputy, a non-commissioned officer, shows the stocks to the inspection team. "The first storage site is almost acceptable. There are various ammunition and weapons storage areas in the site at Nedarici. The armament is divided up among the companies. It isn't always easy to count according to the weapons listed, with the constant movement of the weapons", said Amara.

During the inspection, the inspection team also noted that that there was a still a mined area within the camp area. This fact is reported up the chain of command.

At the end of the inspection, Amara and the local liaison officer sign a document confirming the latest weapons inventory. Both SFOR and the EAF have to agree on the signed report. Then they do three complementary reports about the site situation for UMCS (MND-SE inspection teams), HQ MND-SE and HQ SFOR. In the last month and a half, the team has processed twenty inspection sites and has travelled more than 4,500 km. Each week they generally do three or four site inspections. "It's hard work, but the camaraderie between the French and the Spanish is very good," said Amara.

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• France
• Spain