prevented thousands of deaths by acting more strongly led to increased planning for Operation Deliberate Force. The London Conference After the events at Srebrenica, sixteen nations met at the London Conference, which began on 21 July 1995, to consider new options for Bosnia. As a result of the conference, UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali gave General Bernard Janvier, the UN military commander, the authority to request NATO airstrikes without consulting civilian UN officials. The North Atlantic Council, NATO's top political body, and the UN also agreed to use NATO air strikes in response to attacks on any of the other safe areas in Bosnia. The participants at the conference also agreed in principle to the use of large-scale NATO air strikes in response to future acts of Serb aggression. Operation Deliberate Force On 28 August 1995, a mortar shell slammed into a Sarajevo marketplace, killing 37 people. The United States subsequently blamed Bosnian Serb forces for the attack. Admiral Leighton Smith, the NATO commander, recommended that NATO launch retaliatory air strikes against the Serbs under the plan established for Operation Deliberate Force. On 30 August 1995, NATO officially launched Operation Deliberate Force with large-scale bombing of Serb targets. This bombing superseded Operation Deny Flight's role for air strikes and close air support, but Deny Flight remained an active operation, still enforcing the no-fly zone over Bosnia. Until 20 September 1995, when Operation Deliberate Force ended, the role played by Deny Flight was minimal. After the suspension of Operation Deliberate Force; however, several further operations were carried out under Deny Flight. On 4 October 1995, Deny Flight aircraft fired HARM missiles after being targeted by surface-to-air missiles. On 8 October 1995, the UN requested close air support near Tuzla. Due to bad weather conditions, NATO aircraft were unable to locate their targets, but on 9 October, in the final combat engagement of Deny Flight, NATO aircraft returned and destroyed a Serb command and control bunker. Termination of Deny Flight After the adoption of the Dayton Accords, a peace agreement for Bosnia, Deny Flight's mission was no longer necessary. On 15 December 1995, the United Nations Security Council officially terminated the resolutions that had authorized the operation, and on 16 December, the North Atlantic Council agreed to terminate Operation Deny Flight, effective 20 December. On 21 December 1995, NATO held a formal closure ceremony for Deny Flight in Vicenza. Many of the forces