1992 Yugoslav People's Army Column Incident in Tuzla

On 15 May 1992, forces of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) stationed in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, began withdrawing from their barracks at Husinsko Brdo, intending to move toward Bijeljina, an area under Serb control since late 1991. The withdrawal had reportedly been arranged as a peaceful retreat through agreement with local authorities, but it ended in an armed clash at the Brčanska Malta road junction. The column attempted to leave at 14:00 but was stopped at a checkpoint by elements of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Territorial Defence (TO) and sent back to the barracks. It left again at 19:00, heading north-east via the Brčko road toward Bijeljina. The lead vehicle carried the commander of the JNA garrison, Lieutenant Colonel Mile Dubajić, followed by a vehicle containing Bosnia and Herzegovina TO members. When the convoy reached the intersection with the road to Simin Han, it came under small arms fire from Bosnia and Herzegovina TO forces, along with local police.

Casualty figures vary by source. One account states that at least 54 JNA soldiers were killed and 44 wounded. However, an indictment issued by the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia, filed in the District Court of Belgrade War Crimes Chamber on 9 November 2007, stated that at least 92 JNA members were killed and a further 33 wounded, with a number of military vehicles, including ambulances, destroyed. The indictment reportedly listed the names of those killed and wounded.

The incident led to a protracted legal process in Serbia. The former head of Tuzla public security, Ilija Jurišić, an ethnic Croat, was indicted by the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor's Office on suspicion of ordering the attack on the column. A case against him was reportedly dismissed before Bosnian courts. Jurišić was arrested at Belgrade Airport in May 2007. In 2009 he was found guilty of improper battlefield conduct and sentenced to 12 years in prison. In October 2010, an appeals court overturned that sentence, and the Belgrade Appeals Court ordered a re-trial and released him from detention; he returned to Tuzla on 11 October 2010 to a supportive crowd. The re-trial resulted in another 12-year sentence. An appeal against that result began on 2 April 2015, and in March 2016 his conviction was again overturned.

The city of Tuzla marks 15 May as "City Liberation Day." The event is described as similar to an earlier attack on a withdrawing JNA column in Sarajevo about a week prior.