MILOSEVIC!
THIS COLLATERAL DAMAGE HAD A NAME!
HER NAME WAS MILICA.
OVERVIEW OF THE COLLATERAL DAMAGE
IN YUGOSLAVIA
THIS COLLATERAL DAMAGE HAD A NAME!
HER NAME WAS MILICA.
OVERVIEW OF THE COLLATERAL DAMAGE
IN YUGOSLAVIA
Table of contents *
Korisa *
Luzane * savine
Vode *
Surdulica *
Prizren-Djakovica *
Beograd 6 Istok
*
Murino (Montenegro) * Grdelica
*
Gnjilane * Aleksinac
*
Merdare *
Zlatibor *
Cacak *
Pristina *
Pancevo *
Nis *
Novi Sad *
Djakovica *
Kragujevac *
Cuprija *
Subotica *
Bor *
Valjevo *
Kursumlija *
Vranje *
Kraljevo *
Krusevac *
Uzice *
Backa Palanka *
Urosevac *
Paracin *
Sremska Mitrovica *
Trstenik *
Lucani *
In the night of May 14, 1999,
NATO performed an attack with six missiles on refugees situated on a farm
in village Korisa, near Prizren, Kosovo, Yugoslavia. In this attack, 87
Kosovo Albanians died. This is by far the biggest massacre of civilians
in Kosovo since WWII. Kosovo Albanian Fehmi Ahmeta said to Reuters that
seven members of his family were killed.
Journalists who visited the spotlight describe it as a scene of destruction, full of burned bodies, some of them still burning at the time of reporting.
"[NATO] spokesmen blamed the deaths on Yugoslav authorities, claiming they had used the refugees as "human shields" by forcing them to spend the night next to a military command post and artillery bunker?. Contrary to the assertion of military spokesmen here and at the Pentagon, however, the refugees said they saw no signs that the compound was being used as a local military or police command center. Nor did they report seeing any of the artillery pieces located in bunkers that NATO claimed were destroyed in the attack" (Washington Post, 5/21/99). On 5/21/99, NATO decided not to release surveillance photographs and summaries of the intercepted radio transmissions to back up its claim.
In the NATO attack on May 1, 1999, on a bridge in Luzane (12 miles from Pristina), around 1 p.m., a "Nis Express" bus on a regular service linking Nis and Pristina, was hit. There were about 70 passengers on the bus. A missile hit the bus directly and split it in two. One half remained on the bridge burning for an hour, while the other half plunged into the valley. Bodies were scattered over a wide area. At least 40 people were killed.
In the second wave of the
attack an ambulance vehicle was damaged and one medical doctor was seriously
wounded in the head. One of the Luzane inhabitants, who eyewitnessed the
attack, said the bus was filled with civilians, mostly old people and children
and that he could hear them crying for help from the bus wreckage after
the attack.
On May 3, 1999, during the NATO attack on Savine Vode, a village 20 km from Pec, another civilian bus on route Djakovica-Podgorica was hit.
At least 20 persons were killed, 43 were injured (23 suffered serious injuries). There were large numbers of women and children among the victims. During the attack, cluster bombs were used. Several civilian cars were also destroyed. Rescue teams and ambulance cars weren't able to help the victims due to the prolonged attack.
Surdulica
Two NATO missiles hit civilian objects in the center of Surdulica on April 27, 1999, between 12 and 12:30 p.m. A CNN reporter counted 16 civilian victims at the scene, 11 of which were children between 5 and 12 years of age.
Three days after the attack bodies were still being taken out of the ruins. Some of them couldn't have been identified due to the shape they were in.
Several hundred civilian objects in the center of Surdulica were damaged, some of them completely destroyed. Attacks repeated the next day, making rescuing and recovering bodies in this town even more difficult.
In
the early afternoon hours on April 14, 1999, a convoy of Albanian refugees
was bombed four times by NATO planes. The refugees were moving down Prizren-Djakovica
road, mostly on foot, or in tractor trailers. At least 75 people were killed,
100 wounded. All of the victims were ethnic-Albanians, mostly children,
women and elderly people. Since the attack was carried out in daylight,
considering that the convoy consisted mostly of agricultural vehicles and
civilian cars, and that the attack was repeated four times with long periods
of time between them, possibility of this attack being accidental is very
unlikely.
Belgrade
Around 12:55 a.m. on May 20, 1999, NATO directly hit "Dragisa Misovic" hospital, in Belgrade. The neurological ward, the maternity ward, the gynecological ward and the children's ward for lung diseases have been completely destroyed. NATO admitted that one of the laser guided bombs overshot its target by about 1,500 feet (460 meters).
During the attack 4 women were in active labor. A woman who, at the time of the attack, was having a Caesarean section, was also injured. She was transferred to the basement where her baby was finally delivered! In the attack 4 patients were killed, and several women in labor were wounded.
The building of Chinese
Embassy suffered numerous direct hits. One half of the building was totally
destroyed. According to the Chinese Government there were about 30 people
in the building at the moment of the attack. Four Chinese citizens were
killed and at least 20 injured.
On Friday, April 23, 1999, around 2 a.m., the building of the Serbian National Broadcasting Network was destroyed by NATO air forces. The building is in the very center of Belgrade, a few hundred feet from a children's theater, St. Marko's Church, the City Children Center and the local market. A transmitter used by foreign journalists situated in Belgrade, was also destroyed. More than 20 civilian employees of the TV station were killed.
A three-year-old girl Milica Rakic was killed in the NATO attack on Batajnica, a satellite suburb of Belgrade. Her death became a symbol of the meaningless loss of life of innocent civilians in this war.
The
administrative center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was hit several
times. The building is in the very center of Belgrade, near the city hospital,
which has the largest delivery ward in Belgrade. Several civilians, who
were passing by the building at the time of the attack, were killed.
On May 21, 1999, at 8:40 a.m. a prison in Istok was hit with two missiles, killing one man and seriously injuring one woman. Attack was repeated at 9:20 a.m. with ten missiles. Second attack left nine people dead, including deputy governor. At least ten people were injured. Since then, NATO has bombed this prison several times. Until May 27, 1999, death toll has raised to 89.
In the NATO attacks on May 1, 1999, the small village of Murino was bombed with 10 missiles. Orhan Redzepagic, the mayor of the remote mountain commune of Plav, said that four civilians were killed including two young girls, refugees from Pristina, who were hit directly and blown into pieces. The other two dead were a man and a woman, while eight people suffered injuries.
NATO hit an international train, on regular service from Belgrade to Thessaloniki (Greece), in the vicinity of Leskovac on Monday, April 12, 1999.
55 passengers were killed, including a ten-year-old child. More than 30 passengers were wounded. All casualties were civilians.
NATO attacked Gnjilane a number of times. There were many civilian victims. Among the many other civilian objects, the City Hospital was hit.
Five NATO missiles hit Aleksinac, a small mining community, on April 6, 1999. 17 civilians, taking shelter in a basement of a house, were all killed. Although there is no military infrastructure in the residential area that was bombed, more than 400 homes were devastated.
NATO forces dropped cluster bombs on the home of the Tosic family, in the small village of Merdare, located between Kursumlija and Podujevo.
An eleven-month-old baby girl was among the Merdare victims. Her mother, in the ninth month of pregnancy, was injured. The father was killed.
The recreational center on mountain Zlatibor was attacked by NATO, killing three civilians. One of the victims celebrated his 25th birthday a day before he was killed.
NATO forces destroyed Sloboda factory, the largest factory in Cacak. This factory produced domestic appliances. The lives of more than 5000 families were dependent on this factory.
A residential area near the factory was also destroyed. Two persons were killed, one of them was a 74-year-old woman. Seven were injured.
Pristina is being bombed every day. Citizens of this town are continuously under attack. The number of civilian victims is increasing daily.
On the morning of Saturday, May 1, 1999, NATO attacked Pancevo. Explosions
could be heard in the wider city center. Independent Radio Pancevo reported
that a missile exploded in the park on Paje Marganovica Street. Windows
were broken on the nearby City Hospital and surrounding apartment buildings.
There have been enormous casualties due to the everyday NATO attacks on Pancevo.
A chemical plant which produces fertilizers, was hit, and seven workers were injured. The entire residential quarter near the factory was evacuated because of the danger of intoxication by poisonous gases released due to the damage inflicted to the building and the fire that consequently broke out.
NATO forces hit the power plant in the Pancevo petroleum refinery complex, which supplied electricity and gas. The refinery was attacked on several more occasions. A huge amount of toxic material was spilled into the Danube River, which flows all the way from Germany to the Black Sea.
Nis is the second largest city in Serbia. A coalition of democratic parties won the last local elections. The mayor of Nis stated: "My fellow citizens are in a brave struggle for democracy, but still, we were bombed tonight by planes of Western-democratic countries!! Is there a logical explanation for this? Is there at least a proper clarification?"
On May 7, 1999, 15 people were killed when cluster bombs fell on the town market. 60 people were injured. Cluster bombs are used for destroying of manpower and they are forbidden by Geneva Convention.
Not even pets were spared from the cluster bombs, dropped by NATO, on
the very center of Nis.
NATO attacked an oil refinery
in Novi Sad more than 10 times. Due to the smoke from burning refineries,
even breathing for the people of Novi Sad is now very difficult. Water
from the public water supply is no longer drinkable. Highly acidic rain
has been falling for days.
Residential areas in the suburbs of Novi Sad were demolished. There are many civilian victims throughout the city, which is frequently a target of NATO assaults. The number of citizens wounded by NATO missiles and bombs is increasing day after day.
The bridges of Novi Sad used to connect people, and bring suburbs food, water, and electricity. They are now all destroyed.
Djakovica
10 civilians died in a refugee camp near Djakovica, home for more than 50 families from Krajina (Croatia). The houses were completely destroyed. Just four years ago, more than 400,000 civilian Serbs were ethnically cleansed from the Krajina region by the Croatian government!
Workers employed at the Zastava factory in Kragujevac used their bodies to "protect" the factory, because it was a lifeline for the whole town. 120 workers were injured by a NATO assault on the factory. The Zastava automobile factory supported more than 50% of citizens living there.
In Cuprija, a residential area was totally devastated.
On Friday, April 16th 1999, NATO attacked the city of Subotica for the
first time. Subotica lies on the very border with Hungary, over 350 miles
away from Kosovo. About 70% of Subotica's population are ethnic Hungarians.
The ethnic Hungarian party - Vojvodina's Hungarian Union governs the city,
and Hungarians live peacefully with other ethnic communities in the northern
province of Serbia - Vojvodina. A whole street in the residential quarter
of the city was completely demolished by NATO planes. All destroyed objects
were civilian.
Six persons were wounded when NATO hit the electricity relay station in Mining and Metal-processing Basin Bor on May 15, 1999. All the facilities terminated their work.
Several buildings in the densely populated residential area of Valjevo were damaged in a NATO strike. Among them are: the City Hospital, an agriculture secondary school, a railway station and several apartment buildings.
In two NATO attacks on Kursumlija, a small town in southern Serbia, 13 citizens were killed and more than 20 were injured.
A residential suburb was badly damaged as a result of NATO attacks. Two people were wounded while working in the field near the town. Irena, a 16-year-old girl, was severely wounded. A day after, she died in a hospital, due to a scull fracture caused by shrapnel from a NATO missile. Her father was seriously injured. An older woman died in the assault as well. Several more missiles hit the area around Vranje and caused considerable damage.
Boys in Kraljevo hold an unexploded bomb with a message from NATO pilots.
THE MESSAGE READS: "DO YOU STILL WANNA BE A SERB NOW?"
A school in Kraljevo was
obliterated in NATO attacks. The school year has been suspended in all
primary and secondary schools and at all universities in Yugoslavia.
NATO forces destroyed the factory of construction machines "14th October" in Krusevac on April 11, 1999. 6000 families were supported by its revenues!
NATO forces attacked the main Post Office in Uzice on several occasions. The facility is in the very center of the town. As a result of these attacks the post office was completely destroyed, and neighboring residential buildings were heavily damaged.
A residential suburb of Backa Palanka was demolished in a NATO attack.
A residential suburb of Urosevac was demolished in a NATO attack. Several people were killed.
On May 12, 1999, a number of houses in Paracin were destroyed.
Due to NATO attacks, residential areas of Sremska Mitrovica were heavily damaged.
In NATO attacks on Trstenik, the very center of the town was badly damaged. There were civilian deaths.
Lucani is a small town in western Serbia, located between Cacak and
Uzice. NATO forces attacked the chemical industry "Milan Blagojevic" on
several occasions. The factory is badly damaged and out of order.
This list is not nearly a complete account of all the civilian victims and destructions caused by NATO bombing. And sadly - it could be added: TO BE CONTINUED....
Istok
Pancevo
Uzice