For Bosnian Serbs, Gorazde's capture would enable them to more easily link their holdings in eastern and southwestern Bosnia-Herzegovina. It is the last major prize along the Drina River, which forms part of the border between Bosnia and Serbia, the dominant republic in Yugoslavia.
The mostly Muslim district, 32 miles southeast of Sarajevo, has been under Serb siege for most of the 2-year-old war. It lies just north of the river and stretches along a narrow valley with mountains on both sides.Before the war, the district had a population of 37,500 - 70 percent Muslim and the remainder mostly Serb. The region's population has since swollen to 65,000, as refugees from other areas poured in.
Along with five other Muslim-held regions in Bosnia, it was declared a U.N. "safe area" in May 1993. The others are Sarajevo, Bihac in the northwest, Tuzla in the north and Srebrenica and Zepa in the east.
It took until June 16, 1993, to get the first eight U.N. military observers to Gorazde. Upon arrival, they reported considerable destruction.
On Aug. 15, 1993, the first U.N. aid convoy reached Gorazde. Those with the convoys told of children being operated for shrapnel wounds without anesthetics and hundreds of people bursting into tears when they saw the aid trucks.
Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic said then he was pulling back 1,000 Serb fighters from Gorazde. But the siege did not end and convoys have gotten in only sporadically. Most food aid is dropped by air, U.N. officials say.