The majority of those killed Killing were Bosniaks ( or Bosnian Muslims ) .

In March 1992 , the Bosnian referendum on independence was passed Process_end with overwhelming support Supporting from Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats , although Bosnian Serbs either boycotted Agree_or_refuse_to_act it or were prevented Preventing_or_letting from voting Choosing by Bosnian Serb authorities .

As a result , the JNA began Process_start to lose Earnings_and_losses Slovenes , Croats , Kosovar Albanians , Bosniaks , and ethnic Macedonians , and effectively became Becoming a Serb army .

Following the Slovenian and Croatian secessions from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1991 , the multi-ethnic Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina – which was inhabited Come_together by mainly Muslim Bosniaks ( 44 percent ) , as well as Orthodox Serbs ( 32.5 percent ) and Catholic Croats ( 17 percent ) – passed a referendum Request for independence on 29 February 1992 .

The conflict Hostile_encounter was initially between the Yugoslav Army units in Bosnia which later transformed Change into the Army of Republika Srpska ( VRS ) on the one side , and the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( ARBiH ) which was largely composed of Bosniaks , and the Croat forces in the Croatian Defence Council ( HVO ) on the other side .

Tensions between Croats and Bosniaks increased Cause_change_of_position_on_a_scale throughout late 1992 , resulting in the Croat–Bosniak War that escalated Process_start in early 1993 .

The Serbs , although initially militarily superior due to the weapons and resources provided Supply by the JNA , eventually lost Earnings_and_losses momentum as the Bosniaks and Croats allied Collaboration themselves against the Republika Srpska in 1994 with the creation of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina following the Washington agreement .

By early 2008 , the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia had convicted Legal_rulings 45 Serbs , 12 Croats and 4 Bosniaks of war crimes in connection with the war Military_operation in Bosnia .