Site inspection in Nedarici
By 2nd Lt. Alexandre Montagna
First published in
SFOR Informer #75
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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