Sarajevo is the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, situated along the Miljacka River and surrounded by steep mountain slopes. Following the European Communities recognition of BiH as a sovereign state, on 6 April 1992, fighting broke out between the Yugoslav People’s Army and non-Serb residents in the capital and neighbouring villages. From May 1992 until December 1995, the city was subjected to blockades, day-to-day shelling and sniping by Bosnian Serb forces and, in particular, its Sarajevo Romanija Corps. For more than three and a half years, Bosnian Serb forces indiscriminately killed and wounded thousands of civilians in the campaign designed to keep the population in a constant state of terror. The life of virtually every Sarajevo inhabitant became a daily struggle to survive. Without electricity or running water, people were forced to venture outside to find basic living necessities, often risking death. The siege ended in December 1995.