Crossfire War – TEHRAN WATCH – Southeast Europe Theatre
Tehran – Mostar – Sarajevo – Ankara/Zagreb – Vienna – Brussels – Belgrade; Mosque in Mostar, Bosnia Heavily Damaged by Rocket Propelled Grenade – Mayor Appeals for Calm – Tehran’s Timing
Night Watch: MOSTAR – An unknown assailant fired a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) at a mosque in the Croatian section of the city of Mostar in southern Bosnia-Herzegovina. There were no casualties but a lot of damage.
The head Imam Salem Dedovic said the timing of the attack was extremely disturbing since it has occurred during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The Bosnian-Croat Mayor Ljubo Beslic has appealed for citizens to remain calm and for the police to find the man who fired the RPG. [SERBIANNA]
This is Tehran’s timing. I don’t believe it was a disgruntled voter angry at the recent divisive elections in the country. This attack is identical to the attack on the Shi’ite mosque in Samarra, Iraq in February that ignited the sectarian war still raging in Iraq. It is designed to create an atmosphere of religious-ethnic hatred in a city that witnessed some of the heaviest fighting between Muslims/Croats during the first Balkan war 1991-95.
Ethnic tensions remains high in the area and there are occasional violent incidents between the communities. Tehran obviously wants more than the occasional incident. Iran is preparing the region to attract Vienna’s attention away from Tehran’s nuclear program.
Mostar is near the section of Croatia’s border that angles south along the Adriatic coast which cut off Serbia and Bosnia’s access to the sea.
Night Watch Information Service
