Zaim Imamović

Who was Zaim Imamović?

Zaim Imamović was a Bosniak soldier who commanded the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina forces in the Goražde enclave during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Imamović was born in Ilovača, Goražde, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Prior to the war he was a professional soldier in the Yugoslav National Army and held the rank of Captain.

When the Yugoslav federation began to fall apart he was stationed in Slovenia but the beginning of the war in Bosnia found him in Sarajevo. He returned to his native region and took command of the soldiers there. He commanded the forces through the three and a half year siege, the worst of which was during March/April 1994 when an unsuccessful Serb offensive killed almost one thousand and wounded nearly 2,000 people, mostly civilians.

His leadership skills were recognized and he was taken out of the enclave in order to command a unit which sought to break the siege from outside. He always led from the frontline and was wounded 6 times, the last time just a day before he was killed by shrapnel from a Serb shell on the Treskavica mountain in October 1995.

He was buried on the grounds of the Ali Pašina Ali Pasha's Mosque in Sarajevo along other prominent Bosniak military and political leaders.