The role of foreign fighters in the Bosnian war

The Bosnian War attracted large numbers of foreign fighters and mercenaries from various countries. Volunteers came to fight for a variety of reasons including religious or ethnic loyalties and in some cases for money. As a general rule, Bosniaks received support from Islamic countries, Serbs from Eastern Orthodox countries, and Croats from Catholic countries. The presence of foreign fighters is well documented, however none of these groups comprised more than 5 percent of any of the respective armies' total manpower strength.

An estimated 2,000–5,000 foreign Muslim fighters fought on the Bosnian side. The Bosnian mujahideen, an independent unit supporting the ARBiH, were primarily formed out of fighters from Iran, Afghanistan and Arab countries, though Muslim volunteers arrived from all around the world.

UNPROFOR recorded a meeting with a number of British and Danish mercenaries fighting for the Muslim side in Travnik.

The Croats received support from Croatia and the Croatian Army fought with the local Croatian Defense Council (HVO) forces. Some external fighters included British volunteers as well as other individuals from Catholic countries who fought as volunteers. Dutch, Spanish, Irish, Polish, French, Swedish, Hungarian, Norwegian, Canadian and Finnish volunteers were organized into the Croatian 103rd (International) Infantry Brigade. British, French, Czech, Canadian served in the 108 Brigade of HVO. There was also a special Italian unit, the Garibaldi battalion. and one for the French, the "groupe Jacques Doriot".

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