Annex VI - part 9/10
Chronology of the battle and siege of Sarajevo
- April 1992
- May 1992
- June 1992
- July 1992
- August 1992
- September 1992
- October 1992
- November 1992
- December 1992
- January 1993
- February 1993
- March 1993
- April 1993
- May 1993
- June 1993
- July 1993
- August 1993
- September 1993
- October 1993
- November 1993
- December 1993
- January 1994
- February 1994
T. November 1993
1. 1/11/93 (Monday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UNPROFOR described the city as
«relatively quiet» with some small arms fire.
Source(s):
UNPROFOR.
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
UNPROFOR reported that the city was relatively quiet with
only some small arms fire. *3646
(b) Local reported events
(c) International reported events
UN mediator Thorvald Stoltenberg who met on the weekend
with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade, stated
that no further progress was made toward setting a date for the
resumption of peace talks. He said that the main obstacle to the
talks was just «2.9 per cent of the territory». *3648
2. 2/11/93 (Tuesday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UNPROFOR reported a high level of
small arms fire in the city centre and some shelling and gunfire
in the airport area.
Source(s): UNPROFOR.
- Targets Hit :
- Airport area.
Source(s): UNPROFOR.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- The Bosnian Serb SRNA news agency reported two
civilians killed and one wounded by BiH snipers in the Serb-held
Grbavica district in the past 24 hours. *3649
Source(s): Reuters.
- Casualties :
- Two civilians were reportedly killed and one other
was wounded in Grbavica by BiH sniper fire.
Source(s): Reuters.
- Narrative of Events :
-
UNPROFOR reported a high level of small arms fire in
the city centre. Some shelling and gunfire was reported in the
airport area. *3650
(b) Local reported events
The BiH army dismissed its army chief of staff. General
Sefer Halilovic, chief of staff, and the commanders of the 4th
Corps and 5th Corps based in Mostar and Bihac respectively, were
discharged «at their own suggestion». Halilovic had been demoted
to chief of staff from supreme commander of the army last spring.
BiH radio said that Halilovic had been questioned about a recent
wave of robbery, extortion and murder by army gangs in the city.
BiH radio said that Halilovic had been replaced by Enver
Hadzihasanovic, the commander of the army 3rd Corps in Zenica.
Halilovic's replacement as army supreme commander was General
Rasim Delic. *3651
3. 3/11/93 (Wednesday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UNPROFOR monitors reported
approximately 150 artillery impacts in the city. The situation in
the city was described as unstable. *3652
Source(s): UNPROFOR.
- Targets Hit :
- UN armoured personnel carrier near the UN
headquarters.
Source(s): Agence France Presse.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
UNPROFOR monitors reported approximately 150 artillery
impacts in the city. The situation in the city was described as
unstable. *3653
A UN armoured personnel carrier was hit by anti-
aircraft rounds in the city centre. UNPROFOR spokesman Bill
Aikman said that as the vehicle left the headquarters of UN BiH
commander General Francis Briquemont at around 5:30 p.m., it
«came under heavy fire from what seemed to be 20 [millimetre]
anti-aircraft fire from high up in the hills». Aikman said that
the UN troops fired some 120 rounds back at their attackers, and
shell fragments were found in the residency compound, but that no
one was hurt. *3654
(b) Local reported events
BiH government security forces arrested seven suspected
members of army black-market gangs in the city. The arrests
raised the number of soldiers jailed for alleged black-market and
other illegal activities to at least 110 in a week. Scores of
interior ministry and army military police descended on several
western highrise districts in the city and arrested seven
soldiers involved in local racketeering, BiH radio said. One of
the seven arrested was the commander of an army unit in the
Cengic Vila district which straddles the Miljacka river a few
hundred metres below Serb positions on Vraca mountain. Local
residents commented that the commander controlled the district
black market where items smuggled in from Serb-held territory
sold for exorbitant sums. *3655
4. 4/11/93 (Thursday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UNPROFOR described the city as
«relatively quiet». Between 60 and 150 shells hit the city.
Source(s): UNPROFOR.
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- An UNPROFOR monitoring station was hit by
sniper rounds, but there were no casualties. *3656
Source(s):
UNPROFOR.
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
UNPROFOR described the city as relatively quiet.
Monitors counted 60 shell impacts in the city. An UNPROFOR
monitoring station was hit by sniper rounds, but there were no
casualties. *3657
UN officials said that as many as 150 incoming
artillery impacts were recorded over the previous 24 hours in BiH
government-controlled parts of the city. *3658
(b) Local reported events
5. 5/11/94 (Friday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- The city's southern front lines
were hit overnight. However, the shooting abated as the dawn
broke.
Source(s): Reuters
- Targets Hit :
- The southern front lines.
Source(s): Reuters.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
The city's southern front lines were hit by low-level
but almost constant small arms, heavy machine-gun and mortar
overnight. Residents said that the shooting abated as a rainy,
misty dawn broke. *3660
6. 6/11/93 (Saturday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- BiH and Bosnian Serb forces engaged
in an intense firefight late in the day with heavy artillery
shells hitting the city centre.
Source(s): Reuters.
- Targets Hit :
- The city centre.
Source(s): Reuters.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
Serb and BiH forces engaged in an intense firefight
late in the day, with tracer rounds lighting up the night sky and
heavy artillery shells hitting the city centre. *3661
The Croatian HVO commander, Slavko Zelic, was
reportedly arrested. In a statement on BiH radio the army said
that it was disbanding the HVO. It accused some members of
«actively cooperating» with Serb forces around Sarajevo,
jeopardizing its defences, but it did not elaborate. It also said
that the HVO had refused to send units to some areas of heavy
fighting when ordered to do so. It was reported that the Croatian-
led force of about 2,000 soldiers had been deployed in an area
close to Serb lines, but had not seen as much heavy fighting as
other fronts. It was also reported that the BiH army invited HVO
soldiers to join a new Croatian brigade of the 1st Corps, the
main Sarajevo defence force. *3662
Sarajevo radio said that government forces encountered
no resistance from the HVO brigade and that most of its men had
agreed to enlist in the BiH army 1st Corps. «The new Croat
brigade incorporated in the 1st Corps will participate equally in
the defence of Sarajevo», the radio said. Earlier a spokeswoman
at Bosnian Croat military headquarters in Mostar criticized the
BiH army's move, saying that the Croat soldiers had the right to
keep their own command. *3663
(b) Local reported events
The BiH military imposed a curfew on the city,
postponing a planned evacuation of more than 1,400 civilians. The
government said that the curfew was needed for it to disband
Croat militia forces and resume its crackdown against renegade
soldiers. Sarajevo residents were told by the Army 1st Corps that
«freedom of movement on the streets was restricted» and they were
advised to remain home until the action was completed, Sarajevo
radio said. Sarajevo radio also reported that the BiH army had
ordered the disbandment of the Bosnian Croat Defence Council,
which controlled the HVO within the city. «In an effort to
consolidate the defence against (Serbian) aggressors, the 1st
Army Corps has decided to disband the HVO command in Sarajevo and
integrate it into the 1st Army Corps», the radio said. «Some HVO
units took the side of the aggressor by launching assaults
against BiH army units in Kiseljak and Mostar», it said. *3664
7. 7/11/93 (Sunday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- The city was reported as mostly
quiet in the morning.
Source(s): Reuters.
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
The city was reported as mostly quiet in the morning.
*3665
(b) Local reported events
The curfew imposed by the BiH government delayed for
the second day the evacuation of more than 1,400 civilians from
the city. The curfew had eased, but the United Nations postponed
the evacuation until 10:00 a.m. Monday, UN spokesman Rupert
Colville said. «The centre is still sealed off because of BiH
police and army actions against HVO forces». He said that the
fighting had eased by late in the day. *3666
8. 8/11/93 (Monday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UNPROFOR reported that the city was
relatively quiet with small arms fire. Some shelling was reported
in the Dobrinja area, near the airport on the Presidency side.
*3667
Source(s): UNPROFOR.
- Targets Hit :
- Dobrinja.
Source(s): UNPROFOR.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- UNPROFOR reported that two UN monitoring teams
came under sniper fire in two separate incidents, but no
casualties or damage
resulted. *3668 BiH army snipers reportedly fired in the
direction of buses carrying Serbian civilians being evacuated
from the city. Two buses with some 100 Sarajevo Serbs aboard
(mostly women, children and the elderly) were crossing the lines
between the BiH army and Bosnian Serb forces at the Sarajevo
airport runway at around 2:45 p.m. when the shooting took
place. *3669
Source(s): UNPROFOR; United Press International.
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
UNPROFOR reported that the city was relatively quiet
with small arms fire. Some shelling was reported in the Dobrinja
area, near the airport on the Presidency side. *3670
BiH army snipers reportedly fired in the direction of
buses carrying Serbian civilians being evacuated from the city.
Two buses with some 100 Sarajevo Serbs aboard (mostly women,
children and the elderly) were crossing the lines between the BiH
army and Bosnian Serb forces at the Sarajevo airport runway at
around 2:45 p.m. when the shooting took place. *3671 Ray
Wilkinson, a spokesman for UNHCR, later said that the shooting
«was not directed at the convoy». *3672 United Nations
officials said that no one was injured in the shooting. United
Nations armoured vehicles reportedly escorted about 300 Serbian
women, children and elderly people in six buses from Sarajevo to
Lukavica, in the first large-scale evacuation since the summer.
*3673
United Nations officials said that Serbian gunmen
abducted two
aides *3674 of Sarajevo's Roman Catholic Archbishop from UN
armoured cars. The cars were transporting Monsignor Vinko Puljic,
two priests and three aides from Sarajevo to Vares (the
archbishop was reportedly traveling to Vares in an attempt to
restore order among Roman Catholics who remained there).
Officials said that about 50 Serbian militia members halted the
convoy, forced the men from their vehicles and abducted the two
aides, saying that the captives were «war ciminals». *3675 The
others reportedly returned to the city after well-armed United
Nations armoured vehicles were dispatched to the scene. United
Nations officials said that the co-chairman of peace talks,
Thorvald Stoltenberg, was personally working on trying to get the
aides
released. *3676
(b) Local reported events
Busloads carrying Serbian women, children and the
elderly left Sarajevo at midday, commencing the evacuation
civilians. Until a shooting incident (see above narrative of
events), 300 civilians left the city out of the 640 Sarajevo
Serbs expected to be evacuated. «It (the evacuation) will
continue tomorrow, until 1,500 Croat, Muslim and Serbian
civilians leave Sarajevo, UNHCR spokesman Ray Wilkinson said.
*3677
The Bosnian Croat Habena news agency reported that BiH
troops in Sarajevo had arrested HVO president Slavko Zelic,
Zeljko Jukic, commander of the HVO's «King Tvrtko» brigade,
Tomislav Kokor, chief of the security service and Vinko Bosnjak,
assistant commander of the operations group. *3678
(c) International reported events
France and Germany pressed ahead with an attempt to
restart the peace process. The two countries urged the European
Community in Brussels to consider offering economic aid to Serbia
if it could convince the Bosnian Serbs to give some more of the
territory they controlled to BiH as part of a peace deal.
Diplomats said that the idea that the Serbs could cede a further
3 per cent of territory to BiH and in turn be rewarded with a
partial lifting of international sanctions was contained in a
letter from French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and German
Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel. *3679
9. 9/11/93 (Tuesday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UNPROFOR observers reported some 80
artillery round into the city and five outgoing rounds. *3680
Significant casualties resulted in the shelling of a primary
school and other sites in Alipasino Polje.
Source(s): UNPROFOR;
Reuters; Agence France Presse; UNICEF; New York Times; United
Press International.
- Targets Hit :
- The «May 1» school in Alipasino Polje; square or
breadline in Alipasino Polje; an unidentified school in Alipasino
Polje.
Source(s): Reuters; Agence France Presse; UNICEF; New York
Times; United Press International.
- Description of Damage :
- A high number of casualties were reported
as a result of the shelling of the «May 1» school in Alipasino
Polje.
Source(s): Reuters; Agence France Presse; UNICEF; New York
Times; United Press International.
- Sniping Activity :
- Sniping activity in the city had reportedly
been on the increase over the past few days, with cars regularly
drawing gunfire on the city's «sniper's alley». *3681 One man was
also reported killed by a sniper's bullet in Alipasino Polje.
*3682
Source(s): Agence France Presse.
- Casualties :
- Sarajevo hospitals said that a total of seven people
were killed and about 40 were injured in morning shelling of the
city. *3683 A subsequent report said that nine people had been
killed and 70 wounded in the day's attacks. *3684 The day's
casualties were described as the highest since the July shelling
of a water queue. *3685 Physician Davor Sepetavc said that the
Kosevo hospital had treated 21 wounded persons since 8:00 a.m.. A
doctor at the French Hospital in the downtown area said that the
facility had received two dead and treated 34 wounded, six with
serious injuries. Twelve of the injured were later sent to the
Kosevo hospital. Around 20 of the injured were children, the
doctor said. *3686
Source(s): United Press International; Agence
France Presse.
- Narrative of Events :
-
Shells hit a French-sponsored school in the Alipasino
Polje
suburb. *3687 The «May 1» School was set up in a former clothing
store in what had been a shopping and residential area before the
war. *3688 Early accounts said that at least seven people,
including three to four children and one teacher, had been killed
when mortar rounds exploded near the school entrance. UNICEF
reported that at least three children and their teacher were
killed and 20 others were seriously injured. *3689 The three
children in the Kosevo morgue had reportedly died from wounds to
the body and their teacher, thought to be in her early forties,
was killed instantly by shrapnel injuries to the head. *3690
Three or four shells apparently landed at short intervals outside
the school building. «We were writing when we heard something
fired somewhere», Mirza Huskic, a child who was wounded, told BiH
radio. «Suddenly I heard screaming and noise. I went toward home
to see where my mother was. Then a man picked me up and brought
me to the ambulances». The BiH radio quoted Prime Minister Haris
Silajdzic as saying that nine people were dead. He said that all
were children, but at least one teacher was known to have been
killed. The radio earlier quoted civil service officials as
saying that the shells came from Nedzarici, a suburb held by
Bosnian Serbs. But the Serbs denied responsibility for the
attack. *3691 Local residents believed that the school was hit by
a 120 millimetre shell. *3692
Sarajevo radio said that Serb forces began firing
artillery from their hilltop positions down into the suburb at
around 9:00 a.m.. The radio said that at around 10:50 a.m.,
shells landed outside the school at a time when children, along
with their teachers were outside the building. *3693
It was reported that a minute after the school attack,
a mortar bomb hit a nearby square where people were sitting out
in the open in the mild weather or waiting in a bread queue. The
casualties there reportedly included a child whose legs were
blown off. *3694 In another report which probably involved this
same incident, two persons were reported killed in Alipasino
Polje. *3695 UNICEF reported that less than a half hour later,
another shell fell in front of another primary school in the same
part of the city, killing another child. *3696
(b) Local reported events
UN mediator Thorvald Stoltenberg visited the city to
meet with government officials. BiH President Alija Izetbegovic
avoided a scheduled meeting with him without explanation. The
envoy met Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic and other members of the
collective presidency instead. The Prime Minister warned
Stoltenberg that the peace process would remain deadlocked for as
long as the world pressed BiH to accept an inferior settlement
under the plan to divide BiH into separate Muslim, Croat and Serb
states. *3697
Following the day's school attack, the BiH Government
requested that the UN Security Council either use force to lift
the siege of Sarajevo or end the arms embargo against them.
Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic said that Bosnian Serbs were
ready to consider giving up more territory to the BiH government
and resume the stalled peace talks. «We are for the continuation
of the talks and are ready to help the Moslems to get a bigger
part of Sarajevo and some territories», he said. *3698
Late in the day, Sarajevo radio cited the BiH
government as saying that all primary and secondary school
classes would be canceled for a week because of the school attack
in Alipasino Polje. The radio said that a decision would be taken
later about resuming classes. *3699
UN officials said that BiH authorities in Sarajevo were
postponing the evacuations of Sarajevans for security purposes. A
spokeswoman for UNHCR said that the delay of the evacuation was
apparently caused by the detention on Monday of two BiH
government policemen by Serbian soldiers outside the
city. *3700
In the evening, some 300 former HVO soldiers met a BiH
presidency delegation, including two Croats and Prime Minister
Haris Silajdzic, to present a petition with their grievances.
They asked for: the restoration of their HVO unit, which they
said had loyally defended Sarajevo alongside the BiH army; the
freeing of five senior HVO officers who they said were jailed on
trumped-up charges; and work for Croat-Muslim peace in BiH. The
soldiers complained that the BiH army had ambushed them from
behind on Saturday, desecrated their flags and emblems, and
stolen their money and cigarettes. «We have been unjustifiably
accused of cooperating with the aggressor. How can we be
motivated to fight further for the defence of Sarajevo», said
Ivan Slavicek, the HVO's former officer in charge of liaison with
the BiH army in the city. He said that 80 HVO soldiers had been
killed and 200 wounded thus far in helping to defend Sarajevo.
*3701
(c) International reported events
In New York, the UN Security Council condemned Monday's
abduction of two Bosnian bodyguards under UN protection, as a
«flagrant challenge to the authority and inviolability» of the
UNPROFOR. *3702
After the schoolhouse shelling, White House spokeswoman
Dee Dee Myers said that the United States would not let violence
choke off Sarajevo. «The folks on the ground in Sarajevo know
what we mean», Myers said. «We're not going to allow that city to
be strangled, to be cut off, to be relentlessly attacked». *3703
In Washington, the Clinton administration dismissed the
Franco-German proposal to end the economic sanctions against
Serbia in exchange for territorial concessions. The Pentagon,
meanwhile, said it was studying several options for stepping up
the humanitarian airlift in light of predictions of a harsh
winter and continued fighting. «We are interested in anything
that would help move the peace process», Michael McCurry, the
State Department spokesman said. «But I don't think at this point
a discussion of sanctions or lifting of sanctions is something
the United States is enthusiastic about». *3704
10. 10/11/93 (Wednesday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- Shelling attacks occurred in the
city beginning at about 2:00 p.m.. Numerous civilian areas were
hit and significant civilian casualties resulted.
Source(s):
United Press International; Reuters; Agence France Presse.
- Targets Hit :
- Otoka District in the New Town area; the Sarajevo
television centre; Zrtava Fazizma street in the downtown area
(about 500 metres from the Holiday Inn).
Source(s): United Press
International; Reuters; Agence France Presse.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Eight people were reported killed and 44 others
wounded in mortar attacks on the city. *3705 According to BiH
radio, new mortar attacks on the city killed eight people,
including three children, and wounded about 25 (about half of
them children). *3706 Sarajevo radio said that at least one
person was killed and five wounded, as casualties began pouring
into the main hospital after an attack at around 2:00 p.m.. *3707
One of the attacks occurred in the Otoka district in the New Town
area at 2:30 p.m.. *3708 Eleven persons were reported injured,
four of them seriously, when a shell exploded in a street in the
New Town area, witnesses said. *3709 Five people, including three
children, were killed when two mortars landed near the Sarajevo
television centre, said a nurse from the hospital in the city
centre. *3710 A woman was reportedly killed in an artillery
attack on Zrtava Fazizma street in the downtown area, about 500
metres from the Holiday Inn. *3711
Source(s): Agence France
Presse; New York Times; United Press International; Reuters.
- Narrative of Events :
-
Sarajevo radio said that at least one person was killed and
five wounded, as casualties began pouring into the main hospital
after an attack at around 2:00 p.m.. *3712 One of the attacks
occurred in the Otoka district in the New Town area at 2:30 p.m..
*3713 Eleven persons were reported injured, four of them
seriously, when a shell exploded in a street in the New Town
area, witnesses said. *3714 Five people, including three
children, were killed when two mortars landed near the Sarajevo
television centre, said a nurse from the hospital in the city
centre. *3715 A woman was reportedly killed in an artillery
attack on Zrtava Fazizma street in the downtown area, about 500
metres from the Holiday Inn. *3716
(b) Local reported events
Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic said that his side
would concede 5 per cent of land to the BiH government, only if
the Bosnian Serbs were given Sarajevo. In an interview with
Belgrade radio, Karadzic was asked to elaborate on his statement
Monday that the Bosnian Serbs were prepared to consider the
possibility of giving more land to BiH. «We demand that Sarajevo
be given to us because it is a Serbian city . . . on Serbian
territory», Karadzic
said. *3717
BiH President Izetbegovic said that the BiH army was
considering launching a «war of liberation» unless peace could be
obtained by political means, BiH radio said. *3718
The UNPROFOR in Sarajevo said that it had conducted an
investigation into Tuesday's mortar attacks. Analysis of the bomb
craters did not establish clearly whether the rounds had been
fired from Serb or Muslim territory, UN military spokesman
Colonel Bill Aikman told a news briefing. *3719
The Tanjug news agency said that Bosnian Croat forces
launched Tuesday's schoolhouse attack in retaliation for the
recent crackdown by BiH government troops on Croatian militia. In
an interview with the Bosnian Serb television station, Bosnian
Croat commander, Ivica Rajic, said the attack was deliberate and
threatened continued shelling of Sarajevo if BiH authorities did
not release Croat troops from custody. «I directed some of the
canons toward Sarajevo», Rajic said, adding that «violence is the
only response to violence». *3720
Three children and the teacher killed in Tuesday's
schoolhouse shelling, were buried in a traditional Muslim
ceremony. The ceremony was held at dusk in a hollow below the
Zetra football field to provide protection against
gunfire. *3721
Electricity was restored to a significant portion of
Sarajevo after UN engineers repaired power mains skirting front
lines around the city. A UN military spokesman said that 30
megawatts of the city's prewar 80 to 100 megawatt output had been
reactivated over the past two days. «It's enough for 80 per cent
of the city to get electricity over three days», UNPROFOR
spokesman Bill Aikman said. The other 20 per cent continued to be
deprived of power because of a lack of oil for local transformer
stations. *3722
The evacuation of Serbs from Sarajevo, set to resume on
this day, was again delayed because Bosnian Serb forces were
still reportedly holding two BiH Government bodyguards abducted
from a United Nations armoured car on Monday. The evacuation was
called off at around 5:45 p.m.. The disappointed persons who
spent almost three hours aboard buses ready to transport them out
of the city, were told to come back at 10:00 a.m. Thursday. *3723
UNPROFOR spokesman, Major Idesbald van Biesenbroeck, said that a
United Nations negotiator, Victor Andreev, would meet the Serbs
again on Thursday to negotiate their release. *3724
(c) International reported events
US President Clinton warned that he had not ruled out
air raids on Bosnian Serb positions in retaliation for the
shelling of Sarajevo. «All we can do is try to . . . get the
United Nations to agree to let the NATO position that the United
States put together, on the availability of air power in the
event that Sarajevo is seriously shelled, be an actual, live
option and not just something on the books», said Clinton in a
press conference. *3725
In Washington on Tuesday and in Brussels today, United
States officials rejected proposals by France and Germany to
revive peace negotiations by easing international sanctions on
Serbia in exchange for territorial concessions by Bosnian Serbs
to the BiH government in Sarajevo. It was reported that Bosnian
Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic had renewed his offer to give up
some territory to the Muslims. But at an afternoon news
conference, President Clinton said that «none of the parties now
are of a mind to make peace on any terms that the others will
accept because there are different military results being
achieved on the ground there in different places and ways that
make all the parties feel that they shouldn't agree now». «Under
those conditions», the President said, «all we can do is try to
make sure that we minimize the human loss coming on for this
winter». Mr. Clinton added that «in the event that Sarajevo is
seriously shelled», the United Nations should permit NATO to have
the «live option» of using air power against the Serbian forces
besieging the city. *3726
At the State Department in Washington, spokesman
Michael McCurry said that the United States had estimated that a
total of 431,000 persons in Sarajevo were «at risk». The United
States reportedly counted someone as being at risk if they were
refugees, homeless, malnourished or in any other way suffering
because of the combat in the region. McCurry said that US
humanitarian aid to BiH had totalled $417 million since 1991.
*3727
11. 11/11/93 (Thursday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- The city was reported as quiet
overnight after two days of mortar attacks. *3728 Sniper fire was
directed towards UN forces and utility repair crews.
Source(s):
Reuters; Agence France Presse.
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Bosnian Serb snipers reportedly fired at the
French UNPROFOR base in central Skenderija. The French responded
with a 20 millimetre cannon and the shooting stopped. A few hours
later, UN engineers came under fire while repairing pylons on a
front line to the north of the city in Kobilja Glava. An UNPROFOR
vehicle shot back with its heavy machine-gun. *3729
Source(s):
Reuters; Agence France Presse.
- Casualties :
- Sarajevo radio reported that 11 people were killed
and 47 others wounded in the city in the 24 hour period ending at
midday Thursday. *3730
Source(s): United Press International.
- Narrative of Events :
-
The city was reported as quiet overnight after two days
of mortar attacks. *3731
(b) Local reported events
UNPROFOR General Jean Cot said that all sides in the
conflict had gone too far in their repeated attacks on relief
convoys. «I think that we have reached the limit of acceptable
interference from the parties, who are handicapping and hampering
the movement of humanitarian convoys», Cot told a news briefing
in Zagreb. «There is no doubt that we are approaching the point
where force will have to be used». *3732
A special envoy of Libyan leader Colonel Momar Gaddafi
arrived in Belgrade to offer Libya's assistance in resolving the
BiH crisis, the Yugoslav news agency Tanjug reported. The envoy,
Ali Triki, held talks with Yugoslav Foreign Minister Vladislav
Jovanovic on the peace process and ways to support efforts to end
the conflict, Tanjug said. Libya had reportedly broken ranks with
the Muslim community by taking a softer line toward Belgrade and
urging BiH to make a quick peace deal with Bosnian Serbs. *3733
The evacuation of Serbian civilians was allowed to
resume after Bosnian Serb military authorities released two
bodyguards who had been abducted while riding with the city's
Roman Catholic archbishop. About 60 Bosnian Serbs (mostly elderly
people and children), left the city by bus and were escorted by
five UN armoured vehicles and two light tanks, moments after the
guards were released. They were reportedly headed toward the
Bosnian Serb-held Lukavica area. Some 350 Bosnian Serbs out of a
total of 642 had been evacuated before the operation was
suspended. About 875 Croats and Muslims were reportedly still
waiting to go to Croatia, but no date had been announced for
their departure. *3734
According to Ray Wilkinson, spokesman for UNHCR, two of
the children wounded in Tuesday's mortar attack on a Sarajevo
elementary school were scheduled to be airlifted to hospitals in
France. *3735
UNPROFOR officers in the city from the Commonwealth
countries wore traditional poppies on their lapels in recognition
of Armistice Day. «It's a rather fitting thing to be wearing
poppies now in this particular city because 75 years ago is when
the First World War ended and here we are again», said UN
spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Bill Aikman. *3736
12. 12/11/93 (Friday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- Not specified
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
No reported incidents.
(b) Local reported events
Croat leaders and the BiH government said that they
would seek a cease-fire and press the West to use force to
protect UN aid convoys to the area. BiH Prime Minister Haris
Silajdzic and Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic announced the
steps after five hours of talks in Sarajevo. Granic was believed
to be the most senior Croatian minister to visit the city since
the war began. Granic's trip was viewed to be an eleventh-hour
bid to stop fighting between the BiH government army and HVO
forces as the winter set in. Granic said that a follow-up meeting
would be held within a week with the goal of agreeing to a cease-
fire. *3737
Russian envoy Vitaly Churkin met Bosnian Serb leader
Radovan Karadzic in Pale to discuss aid routes into central BiH
disrupted by Croat and Bosnian fighting. *3738
(c) International reported events
The head of the Western European Union (WEU) assembly
called for stepped up NATO flights over Sarajevo to deter Bosnian
Serb forces from shelling the city. The WEU said that observers
had noted that Serb shelling stopped whenever NATO combat
aircraft passed over the city to enforce the no-fly zone. «Each
day free of bombardment means saving lives and every NATO flight
contributes to that process», a WEU statement quoted Sir Dudley
Smith as saying. *3739
13. 13/11/93 (Saturday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UNPROFOR reported a low level of
shelling. *3740 However UNPROFOR expressed concern over BiH troop
movements on Mt. Igman.
Source(s): UNPROFOR; Reuters.
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
UNPROFOR reported a low level of shelling. *3741
UNPROFOR feared a new confrontation between BiH and
Bosnian Serb forces on Mount Igman. UN spokesman Idesbald van
Biesebroeck said that the problem was caused by BiH forces moving
their positions too close to Serb lines. «The Serbs have warned
that they could react with cannon fire, artillery and mortars»,
he said. A small UN peace-keeping force was stationed between the
two sides on the mountain. *3742
(b) Local reported events
Russian envoy Vitaly Churkin met members of the BiH
leadership in Sarajevo to discuss ways of reviving the peace
talks. *3743 After meetings with Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic,
Churkin said that he hoped for an early solution to Sarajevo's
gas problem. «I hope that very soon certain agreements will be
completed and that Russia will be able to continue supplying gas
to Sarajevo, which will hopefully result in an improvement in the
humanitarian situation in the city», he said. *3744
Reports detailed the situation of 576 hospital patients
(including children, mental patients and the bedridden sick), who
were trapped in hospitals in the mountains to west Sarajevo.
These hospitals were reportedly on the front line of a northward
offensive launched by Bosnian Croats. Shells had reportedly
exploded during the week on the grounds of the Bakovici hospital,
trapped in a valley between the warring sides. *3745
14. 14/11/93 (Sunday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- Not specified
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
No reported incidents.
15. 15/11/93 (Monday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- Not specified
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
No reported incidents.
16. 16/11/93 (Tuesday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- Not specified
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
No reported incidents.
(b) Local reported events
The city was hit by its first heavy snowfall of the
season. *3746
Officials of UNHCR in Geneva said that the BiH
government and leaders of the Bosnian Serb and Croatian factions
had accepted an invitation to talks Thursday in Geneva which
would discuss the issue of humanitarian aid. «This is a last-
ditch effort to get what's needed in there» said spokeswoman
Sylvana Foa. It would be the first meeting of BiH ethnic leaders
in two months. Ray Wilkinson, the UNHCR spokesman in Sarajevo,
said that a three-week suspension of convoys to central BiH meant
that no supplies had been stockpiled. «Even if we started
tomorrow, even if the weather is good, it's going to take time to
replenish», he said. «We have to be searching for new routes all
the time to dodge the fighting, dodge the snipers, dodge the
snow, to keep up even a minimum lifeline». Wilkinson said that
the situation in Sarajevo was at least tolerable. Last week, he
said, 1,832 tons of food and winter supplies reached the city out
of 2,820 tons needed. *3747
17. 17/11/93 (Wednesday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- Not specified
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
No reported incidents.
(b) International reported events
18. 18/11/93 (Thursday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- Not specified
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
No reported incidents.
(b) Local reported events
UNPROFOR forces were prevented from taking food to a
BiH-controlled mental hospital outside Sarajevo where hundreds of
patients were trapped without heating. Bosnian Serb women
reportedly refused to allow the forces to deliver the food to the
hospital at Pazaric until Serb prisoners were released by the BiH
army. Some of the mental patients were wandering naked in
freezing temperatures, said Ray Wilkinson, a UNHCR spokesman.
*3749
Humanitarian Aid and Medical Development (HAMD), a
British-based medical charity, said it was suspending
reconstructive surgery in the city's two main hospitals, citing
unacceptable risks in operating on malnourished patients in
unheated theatres. They cited the case of Amira Mekic as an
example of their fears. Anmira, 26, was struck by shell fragments
near the city's television station on 10 November. Her left leg
suffered multiple fractures and extensive vascular damage.
Vascular surgeons tried to restore the veins and arteries
necessary for blood to circulate through the damaged limb.
Doctors set the leg. Eight days later her leg had to be
amputated. «We should have been able to save the leg, but Amira
was just too weak», said Dr. Slavenka Straus, a member of the
surgical team. *3750
(c) International reported events
After a day of talks in Geneva, the leaders of the
factions signed a six-point declaration fulfilling key UN demands
to keep humanitarian convoys rolling. As part of the aid
agreement signed by Silajdzic, Karadzic and Boban, the three
sides agreed to «suspend hostilities» along convoy routes.
Silajdzic said only time would tell whether the factions would
observe the agreement or ignore it like previous agreements. He
said that an agreement had been «averted on paper--but wait and
see». *3751
After signing the joint declaration, BiH Prime Minister
Silajdzic spent three hours in talks with Bosnian Serb leader
Karadzic and said that they had discussed «all political
questions», including the possible resumption of peace
negotiations. *3752
EC mediator Lord Owen, met all three of the Bosnian
leaders today. Silajdzic commented, «I don't think we have
anything concrete. The important thing is that we have agreed to
talk and meet and solve these problems». «We have not yet set a
date». Silajdzic said. *3753
19. 19/11/93 (Friday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- The city was hit by an estimated 80
shells.
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- 2 people were killed in the day's shelling.
Source(s): The Press Association.
- Narrative of Events :
-
The city was hit by an estimated 80 shells and two
people were killed. Most of last week, an estimated 20 to 30
shells hit the city per day. *3754
(b) Local reported events
A UN-brokered agreement between city officials and Serb
forces reportedly allowed substantial amounts of natural gas to
begin flowing into Sarajevo. Gas flow was said to be up to 29,000
cubic metres per hour, from 5000 earlier in the week, bringing
some heat and hot water back to parts of the city. *3755
BiH Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic met in Zagreb with
Croatian leaders, including President Franjo Tudjman and Mate
Boban, leader of the Bosnian Croatians. Silajdzic said they
discussed how to guarantee aid convoys free passage, as well as a
possible cease-fire. Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic said
they agreed to establish military and civilian commissions to
work on securing aid routes. *3756
A UN convoy delivered food to the mental hospital
outside Sarajevo where patients were suffering from frostbite and
tuberculosis. The four-truck aid convoy was supposed to include
hundreds of blankets and sleeping bags. *3757 However, UNHCR
spokesman Ray Wilkinson, said that Bosnian Serbs controlling
roads into the area refused to let those items pass, so the
convoy brought only food. This reportedly violated a day-old
agreement to allow the free passage of convoys and to give the UN
authority over what was considered humanitarian aid. *3758
(c) International reported events
20. 20/11/93 (Saturday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- Not specified
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
No reported incidents.
(b) Local reported events
21. 21/11/93 (Sunday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- Shelling was reported in the
mountains surrounding the city.
Source(s): United Press
International.
- Targets Hit :
- The mountains surrounding the city; the electricity
generating station in Jablanica.
Source(s): United Press
International.
- Description of Damage :
- Sarajevo lost a good portion of its
electricity due to shelling damage to the electricity generating
station in Jablanica, 40 miles to the west of the city.
Source(s): United Press International.
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Artillery attacks reportedly killed three persons and
nine others over an 18 hour period.
Source(s): United Press
International.
- Narrative of Events :
-
Sarajevo radio reported artillery attacks by Bosnian
Serb forces in the surrounding mountains. The attacks reportedly
killed three people and wounded nine over an 18 hour period.
*3763
The city was in virtual darkness caused by shelling
damage to an electricity generating station in Jablanica, 40
miles to the west. *3764
(b) Local reported events
22. 22/11/93 (Monday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- Serb forces reportedly fired 125
shells into the city, according to UN officials. There were no
reports that BiH troops fired back. *3767
Source(s): United Press
International.
- Targets Hit :
- A sledding slope near the French UNPROFOR military
base.
Source(s): Reuters.
- Description of Damage :
- Three children were killed in the shelling
of a sledding slope near the French UNPROFOR military base.
Source(s): Reuters.
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Three children were killed, and two others were
wounded in the shelling of a sledding slope near the French
UNPROFOR military base.
Source(s): Reuters.
- Narrative of Events :
-
A Serb shelling attack reportedly killed three children
as they were sledding in the snow. The three children were
playing in the city centre on a slope near the French UN military
base when a shell landed, a BiH radio report said. Two other
children were also injured in the attack, one seriously. Two of
the victims were dead on arrival at the hospital and a third died
during an operation, the radio said. *3768
(b) Local reported events
(c) International reported events
Belgian Foreign Minister Willy Claes said after a
meeting of EC foreign ministers in Luxembourg that the EC would
call fresh peace talks in Geneva next Monday to discuss new
proposals on peace and aid convoys. The European diplomats said
they favoured easing international economic sanctions on Serbia
if BiH was given more land as part of a peace agreement. *3772
23. 23/11/93 (Tuesday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- Not specified
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
No reported incidents.
(b) Local reported events
Fourteen severely wound persons were flown out of the
city aboard a Canadian Hercules transport aeroplane. The group
included two children, three women, and nine men (one of them a
Serb shot by a sniper and said to be on the verge of death). The
wounded were bound for hospitals in Italy, Norway, Luxembourg and
Belgium. Earlier, UNHCR spokesman Peter Kessler said that the
mission had been blocked by local Bosnian Serb officials. But
after Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic intervened, the group
and their UN escorts passed the sole Bosnian Serb checkpoint on
the way from the city to the airport without incident. *3773
24. 24/11/93 (Wednesday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- Not specified
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
No reported incidents.
25. 25/11/93 (Thursday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- Not specified
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
No reported incidents.
(b) Local reported events
UNHCR spokesman Peter Kessler announced that a group of
1,200 evacuees (including women, children, the elderly and other
vulnerable civilians) were scheduled to begin gathering on Friday
to leave the city for Dubrovnik. A convoy was scheduled to
include at least 17 buses, five trucks for luggage and a UN
observer vehicle to deter any attacks. *3774 The go ahead for the
evacuation followed protracted negotiations with Bosnian Serb
authorities who had raised a last-minute issue over safety
guarantees from the Croatian authorities. The issue was only
resolved following top-level negotiations between BiH Prime
Minister Haris Silajdzic and Momcilo Krajisnik, president of the
Bosnian Serb parliament. For his part, Dusan Kovacevic, the Serb
defence minister, had given the convoy safety guarantees through
territory held by Serb forces. UNPROFOR troops would escort the
convoy while the UNHCR would provide bread and blankets for the
journey, city officials said. *3775
(c) International reported events
Lord Owen, the European Community's negotiator in peace
talks, charged that the United States «killed» his most promising
plan to end the fighting in BiH with its reluctance to send large
numbers of troops as peacekeepers. «Body-bag counts are still
part of US public opinion's measure of whether their forces
should or should not intervene», Owen said in an evening speech
to the English Speaking Union's annual Churchill lecture in
London. He added, «The European Community and the Russian
federation had backed Cyrus Vance and myself to the hilt against
US doubts and hesitations from January to May 1993». History
«will I suspect, judge that what was abandoned was the only hope
of keeping Bosnia and Hercegovina together», he said. *3776
26. 26/11/93 (Friday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- Shelling and sniping was reported
in the city all day. The fighting around the city damaged
electrical power lines.
Source(s): United Press International.
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Sniping was reported in the city all day. A
Danish UN officer was wounded in the leg by sniper fire, UNPROFOR
spokesman Bill Aikman said. He was driving in a vehicle (which
was not armoured) through the «sniper's alley», on his way to a
building housing downtown UN offices. *3777
Source(s): United
Press International; Agence France Presse.
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
Shelling and sniping was reported in the city all day.
*3778
Fighting around Sarajevo damaged electrical power lines
to the city, leaving it with almost no electricity, heat or
running water. The United Nations said that it would take at
least 48 hours to repair the power
lines. *3779
(b) Local reported events
The planned evacuation of civilians from the city was
delayed. About 1,100 people (mainly women, children and the
elderly) waited for hours in subfreezing weather until the
evacuation was called off. One official said that Croatians who
were to provide buses appeared to be raising fresh problems and
might be trying to free Bosnian Croat militia leaders arrested by
the BiH government. Peter Kessler, a spokesman for the UNHCR,
said that Bosnian Serbs apparently were not keeping agreements
reached on the passage of the
convoy. *3780
An unidentified BiH commander was reportedly refusing
to allow medical staff to enter the Bakovici mental hospital and
insisted that UN convoys to the hospital be searched. The UN
described the demands as
«unacceptable». *3781
Ron Redmond, spokesman for the UNHCR in Geneva, said
that convoys had delivered 1,000 tons of aid in BiH during the
past three days. But Lieutenant Colonel Bill Aikman, spokesman
for UNPROFOR in Sarajevo, said Serbs, Croatians and Muslims were
again hampering operations barely a week after leaders agreed to
grant relief convoys safe passage. *3782
(c) International reported events
In Geneva, John Mills, the spokesman for the
International Peace Conference on the Former Yugoslavia,
confirmed that the three warring Bosnian leaders and the Serbian,
Croatian and Montenegrin presidents had verbally agreed to meet
in Geneva Monday in a bid to revive stalled peace talks. *3783
27. 27/11/93 (Saturday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- A heavy artillery shell hit the
city centre, but no injuries were reported.
Source(s): Agence
France Presse.
- Targets Hit :
- The city centre.
Source(s): Agence France Presse.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
A heavy artillery shell hit the city centre in the
evening, but no one was reported injured. *3784
(b) Local reported events
The city was without electricity for a second
consecutive day and was left with scarce water and natural gas
supplies. *3785
UN relief convoys were allowed to pass Bosnian Serb
checkpoints into Sarajevo and Srebrenica, but relief efforts
elsewhere were reported to have been hampered. The convoys were
waved across the BiH border with Serbia after being blocked on
Friday, according to Lyndall Sachs, a spokeswoman in Belgrade for
UNHCR. In Sarajevo, five trucks were able to deliver needed fuel.
*3786
Buses were running again, free of charge, on the 108th
anniversary of the city's transport company. However, there were
only two buses operating (between the television station and the
cathedral). Little of the transport's system remained intact
after being destroyed during the siege. Ibrahim Jusufranic,
manager of the company, said that the city's trams stopped on May
two last year. Fighting had inflicted an estimated $60 million of
damage to the company's property. Thirty per cent of the city
trams had been destroyed, along with 20 per cent of trolley buses
and half of the city's buses. «We could have trams running in 15
days if (Bosnian) Serbs give guarantees they will not shoot at
us», Jusufranic added. *3787
28. 28/11/93 (Sunday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UNPROFOR observed significantly
heavier Serb shelling of the city, which spokesman Bill Aikman
ascribed to the use of fresh troops over the weekend. «We have
the impression that the Serbs rotate their troops, and the Sunday
guys take over», he told a news briefing. «It's definitely a
different attitude». *3788 The city was reportedly hit by 116
shells in areas including the city centre. *3789
Source(s):
Reuters; Agence France Presse.
- Targets Hit :
- The city university political science school;
unidentified positions in the east section of the city.
Source(s): Reuters; The Press Association; Agence France Presse.
- Description of Damage :
- Significant casualties resulted from the
day's shelling of the city university political science school.
Source(s): Reuters; The Press Association; Agence France Presse.
- Sniping Activity :
- At «sniper's alley», a man riding a bicycle was
shot dead through the heart by a sniper's bullet, an Red Cross
worker said. *3790
Source(s): Reuters.
- Casualties :
- Five persons were killed and eight others were
wounded in the shelling of the city university political science
school. A man was killed by sniper fire at «sniper's alley».
Source(s): Reuters
- Narrative of Events :
-
An artillery barrage reportedly took place as BiH
President Alija Izetbegovic was leaving for Geneva. Moments
earlier, Izetbegovic told reporters, «If the Serb side does not
return territories, sanctions should be tightened and not
lifted». *3791 Shells were reported to have landed near the city
university's political science school, killing five people and
seriously wounding eight. The shells struck near the Drvenija
bridge shortly before 1:00 p.m.. *3792 Four of those killed died
instantly, one being decapitated and another losing his legs. The
fifth victim was declared dead on arrival at the city's Kosevo
hospital, doctors said. *3793
Seval Ganijun, 31, was one of those wounded in the
day's shelling attack. He suffered shrapnel wounds in the chest
and legs and from his hospital bed later gave his personal
account of what he witnessed. «I was just walking out of the door
of my building when I felt the explosion», he said.
«It's a kind of emptiness I never felt before. Right after
that I heard people screaming and I felt the pain in my
chest and in my legs. Then I felt the warm blood and my mind
cleared. What I saw in front of me was a young guy, about
20, and I could see the inside of his stomach and his hip.
There was blood everywhere and he was calling for his
mother. People ran out and started helping them. I got up
and walked a few steps into the street. Next to a vehicle I
saw only a torso to my left. When I turned to the right
there was another body of a man without a head leaning over
a wheelbarrow full of jerry cans of water. Maybe two yards
farther, another torso, and then behind that one other
person who was dragging himself along and leaving a bloody
trail and calling for help. The screams were horrible, like
they didn't come from this world. Something I never heard
before. I wanted to help, but I didn't know where to go. I
saw people coming and helping, and I saw my brother, who was
completely confused, but who helped me walk over the bridge.
We decided to walk to the hospital because we wanted to
leave the cars for the badly wounded. When we crossed the
bridge a car stopped with two men inside and they took me to
the hospital. Then I saw other people coming in wounded».
*3794
BiH positions in the east section of the city
reportedly came under heavy shelling. Most of the gunfire
reportedly originated from Trebevic to the south. *3795 There
were also reports that tank fire came from the west side of the
city for an hour in the evening. *3796
(b) Local reported events
BiH Vice President Ejup Ganic said that the day's
attack was an attempt by the besieging forces to put pressure on
BiH to accept a peace settlement. «This is pressure on us. This
was a demonstration of power», he said. *3797
Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic said that he did
not have high hopes for the upcoming Geneva meeting and that he
expected the Serbs would be blamed for prolonging the war. «Our
estimates before departing for Geneva indicate that the Serb
position after the meeting will be worse than it is now because
it is obvious that Serbs will be accused again, and by those who
have the least right to do so», he said. He accused Germany,
which along with France proposed the gradual lifting of sanctions
in exchange for territorial concessions, of trying to help the
BiH and Croatia. «Germany should at least for reasons of good
taste keep away from the Yugoslav crisis», he said. *3798
A convoy of 13 trucks, including four carrying 60 tons
of fuel, arrived in the city. It was reportedly the first time a
fuel truck had reached the city since August. *3799
(c) International reported events
Peace talks were scheduled to begin in Geneva on
Monday. The talks were to centre on a proposal presented last
week by France and Germany calling for a gradual suspension of
sanctions against Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), if Bosnian
Serb forces agreed to a slightly larger handover of territory
than the amount specified in a plan rejected in September by the
BiH government. «I would be very surprised if we got a peace
agreement», Thorvald Stoltenberg, the UN mediator, told reporters
in Geneva. «It would be wonderful, but my hope is that we get the
basis for further negotiations». *3800
29. 29/11/93 (Monday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UNPROFOR reported a marked increase
in shelling and small arms fire in the city as the Geneva talks
resumed.
Source(s): Reuters.
- Targets Hit :
- The city centre.
Source(s): Reuters.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Sniping activity was reported in the city
centre.
Source(s): Reuters.
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
UNPROFOR spokesman Major Idesbald van Biesenbroeck
reported a marked increase in shelling and small arms fire in the
city. He said that mortar and sniper rounds hit the city centre
as the Geneva talks began. «Sarajevo was unstable due to
shelling», he said. *3801
(b) Local reported events
(c) International reported events
The three factions agreed to resume direct negotiations
for a settlement. The agreement to restart negotiations was
accompanied by a separate military accord, signed by all parties
to the conflict. In it, the three sides agreed once again to
guarantee the safe passage of UN relief aid and «to take positive
action, including the use of force, against those elements who
refuse to be controlled». UN mediator Thorvald Stoltenberg said
that UN soldiers were also prepared to use force if confronted in
their mission. *3803
As the meeting of 12 EC ministers and the leaders of
three Bosnian factions opened, the current EC president from
Belgium said that the Community was willing to rebuild BiH if
Serbs, Croats and Muslims found a political settlement.
«Negotiations between the Bosnian parties have been deadlocked
since the end of September. They must be resumed and be brought
to a successful conclusion as soon as possible», Belgian Foreign
Minister Will Claes said. The meeting was attended by
Izetbegovic, Karadzic and Croat leader Mate Boban. Also present
were Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, and Croatian President
Franjo Tudjman. *3804
Peace envoys Lord Owen and Thorvald Stoltenberg said
that while the three sides were at least talking again, long and
hard bargaining would be needed for a negotiated settlement.
«We're not in my view going to get a signed, sealed agreement
here in the next few days but I think we may take the process
on», Owen said. *3805
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said that UN
peacekeepers would have to consider abandoning former Yugoslavia
if fighting had not stopped by springtime. «If at the end of
winter our plan has failed, we could not stick indefinitely with
the status quo», he told the French business daily Les Echos. We
could not indefinitely keep on spending hundreds of millions of
dollars, leaving thousands of men on the ground, if the warring
parties refuse any political settlement«. *3806
30. 30/11/93 (Tuesday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UNPROFOR reported a low level of
tension in the city. UNMO observed 21 incoming and 12 outgoing
artillery rounds. *3807 However, reports described an increase in
shelling and small-arms fire.
Source(s): UNPROFOR; Reuters.
- Targets Hit :
- Kosevo Hospital.
Source(s): UNPROFOR; Reuters.
- Description of Damage :
- Five shells hit the Kosevo hospital area.
One shell burst through a window and killed two nurses and
wounded at least three other persons.
Source(s): UNPROFOR;
Reuters.
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Two nurses were killed and at least three other
persons were wounded when shells hit the Kosevo hospital in the
evening. A patient at the hospital also died of shock during the
shelling.
Source(s): Reuters; Agence France Presse; The Press
Association.
- Narrative of Events :
-
The city was subjected to an increase in shelling and
small-arms
fire. *3808
An artillery attack in the evening killed two nurses
and wounded three others at the city's main hospital. *3809
Doctors at the Kosevo hospital said that an artillery round burst
through a window in the evening as the five were sitting in a
room used by medical staff on rest breaks. «It hit outside and
exploded on the outside and blew the wall in», said UN spokesman
Colonel Bill Aikman. The room was virtually destroyed by the
explosion which took away much of the wall and scattered shrapnel
from the floor to the ceiling. «The nurses were sitting right
here», said one doctor, pointing to a sofa covered with a brown
blanket. «They were consulting with the three doctors. They have
their coffee breaks here-except we have no coffee». Doctors at
the hospital said that a total of five artillery rounds were
fired at it from Serb-held positions. *3810 In addition to the
hospital personnel, a patient who was in a room destroyed by an
explosion died of shock, an employee at the city morgue said.
*3811 The hospital is in a residential area, and Aikman said:
«There are no military targets here». *3812
BiH army officers accused Bosnian Serb forces of
launching the Kosevo hospital attack to put pressure on the
Geneva peace talks. UNPROFOR immediately lodged a protest with
Bosnian Serb authorities, UNPROFOR spokesman Bill Aikman said.
UNPROFOR military experts who examined the site to determine the
origin of the shelling were expected to give their conclusions on
Thursday. *3813 BiH army officers alleged that the mortar fire
came from a Serb position south of the city, while Serbs claimed
it probably originated from a BiH army position. Colonel Stjepan
Siber, number two in the BiH army, protested against the attack
in what he termed as an «upsurge in attacks by the [Serb]
aggressors since 28 November throughout BiH, particularly against
civilian targets», Sarajevo radio said. In a letter to the co-
chairmen of the international conference on the former
Yugoslavia, he said: «We view these attacks as pressure on our
delegation at the Geneva negotiations» and «we ask the
international community to punish the aggressors». Siber's
letter, quoted by Sarajevo radio, was also addressed to officials
of UNPROFOR, NATO, the UNHCR and the ICRC. *3814
(b) Local reported events
(c) International reported events
BiH President Alija Izetbegovic submitted a new map in
talks with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and Bosnian Serb
leader Radovan Karadzic. Karadzic stated that he was hopeful that
some kind of accord could be reached. «Unfortunately the Muslims
have come with an over-exaggerated map proposal, but we still
hope there will be a fair solution», he said. *3816
Peace negotiations in Geneva stood on the verge of
collapse. «The talks are going backwards», said Croatian
President Franjo Tudjman. «The Muslim side has increased its
requests and so caused delays». Disagreement at the latest round
of peace talks centered on the BiH demand that Serbs return land
in eastern BiH and that the Croats cede territory on the
Dalmatian coast to insure that a proposed Muslim mini-state had
access to the sea. «I am afraid we are going nowhere», said BiH
Prime Minister, Haris Silajdzic. «We are at the very start again,
and I cannot say I am optimistic». Mr. Silajdzic blamed the
European Community and the Croats and Serbs for the lack of
progress. He said that the European Community had lured BiH back
to the table with an assurance that it could gain 3.7 per cent
more territory. «We are waiting for the European Community to
deliver», he added. *3817
US Secretary of State Warren Christopher announced in
Rome that the United States would send increased aid to BiH. Mr.
Christopher said that the United States would spend an additional
$150 million in relief aid, much of it to defray the cost of
flying Air Force aeroplanes. The US had reportedly already
contributed $400 million in aid to BiH. In a speech to the
Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, Christopher
stated: «This winter the snows have come early in Bosnia and the
humanitarian crisis has deepened». «Whatever we do to help, it
will not be enough. So long as the armed conflict continues, it
is not humanly possible to end the suffering of the people of
Bosnia». «The only answer is to bring the fighting to an end and
the only means to that end is a negotiated settlement», he said.
*3818
U. December 1993
1. 1/12/93 (Wednesday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UNPROFOR reported that more than
120 shell rounds fell on the heights surrounding the city. *3819
UNPROFOR also reported higher tension in the western part of the
city due to the shelling of Kosevo hospital and the airport.
*3820
Source(s): Agence France Presse; UNPROFOR.
- Targets Hit :
- The airport; the Kosevo hospital; the heights
surrounding the city.
Source(s): Reuters; Agence France Presse;
UNPROFOR.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Sniper fire was reported near the Holiday Inn
throughout the day. *3821
Source(s): Reuters.
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
UNPROFOR spokesman Idesbald van Biesenbroeck said that
increased Serb shelling of the city had closed the airport. *3822
He said that more than 120 shell rounds fell on the heights
surrounding the city. *3823
UNPROFOR also reported higher tension in the western
part of the city due to the shelling of Kosevo hospital and the
airport. *3824
(b) Local reported events
Fahro Isakovic, a spokesman for the BiH Ministry of
Education, said that the city's schools would close next week.
«Both primary and high schools will stop operating because of
worse than appalling conditions», he said. When asked what «worse
than appalling meant», he said: «Cold, lack of security--do you
need anything else?» Isakovic said that teachers were being told
to stop holding classes until things improved. «If possible,
schools will start operating on 15 February next year and the
semester will be completed», Isakovic said. «If not then, then
the first of March». *3825
The city received a small amount of electricity, but
power was only going to priority sites such as hospitals and the
industrial bakery, Sarajevo radio said. *3826
(c) International reported events
Leaders of the three warring factions decided to
continue peace talks into Thursday, conference spokesman John
Mills said. Diplomats said the decision to continue the talks
beyond their expected conclusion was at least one positive sign
for negotiations between Moslem, Serb and Croat
leaders. *3827
BiH officials said that a map outlining their
territorial demands had been dismissed by the Bosnian Serbs and
that negotiations were proceeding with «great difficulty». But
the BiH negotiators also said that there was «room for optimism»
on another of their key demands--full access to the Adriatic Sea
at the Croat-held port of Neum. *3828 Croatian President Franjo
Tudjman, who returned to Zagreb on Tuesday evening, had rejected
such an idea. *3829
The BiH government for the first time said that it
would agree to share Sarajevo with the Serbs if it would save the
population. Sources close to peace talks said that the Serbs were
insisting on about 40 per cent of the city and would be willing
to return other territory to BiH as part of a deal. «Frankly, I
find any division of Sarajevo to be repugnant, the recreation of
Berlin», said BiH UN ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey. «But on the
other hand the people of Sarajevo have to survive the
consequences of the world not coming to their aid to lift the
siege», he said, «and if the division is what the world deems,
somehow by default is necessary, then, we're going to try to save
lives». *3830
The European Community warned that it would carry out
its threat to use force against forces in BiH if they ignored
guarantees in Geneva and interfered with aid deliveries. Belgian
Foreign Minister Willy Claes said that the EC would allow several
days for the Geneva agreement to be communicated to all military
commanders in BiH. But after that, «if local chieftains resist
the implementation of the agreement we will utilize military
means», Claes said. *3831
General Jean Cot, the UNPROFOR military chief in the
former Yugoslavia warned that the United Nations would consider
withdrawing from BiH by springtime if combatants continued to
tolerate commanders who repeatedly harassed and blocked aid
convoys. «We cannot continue to put ourselves at the service of
madmen, and I refer here to the leaders», said General Cot. *3832
At a meeting of the United Nations Security Council
committee overseeing trade sanctions imposed on the rump Yugoslav
federation of Serbia and Montenegro, the United States said that
it was inclined to oppose the Russian request to supply 130
million cubic metres of natural gas a month to Belgrade. The
British government expressed a similar intention. As all
decisions of the sanctions committee must be unanimous, the
immediate effect of this stand was to block the Russian proposal
for the time being. Some humanitarian organizations expressed
concern that Bosnian Serbs might retaliate against the decision
by cutting off the intermittent supplies of natural gas and other
forms of energy reaching Sarajevo through Serb-held territory.
«There is a real danger that the Serbs will do this now», said
Roy Williams, overseas operations director of the International
Rescue Committee, which was running a $10 million project to
repair the city's damaged gas distribution
system. *3833
2. 2/12/93 (Thursday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UNPROFOR reported the city as calm
during the evening and unstable during the day. *3834
Source(s):
UNPROFOR.
- Targets Hit :
- Stup.
Source(s): UNPROFOR.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
UNPROFOR reported the city as calm during the evening
and unstable during the day. Some shelling was reported in the
city. The main targeted area was Stup. *3835
(b) Local reported events
The airport reopened after being closed on Wednesday
due to
shelling. *3836
Many Sarajevans reportedly scoffed at the idea of
carving up the city along Serbian and Muslim lines. «If it is
possible we must have a whole city, not to divide it», said
Mustafa Kevelj, a 42 year-old technician and soldier. «If that is
not possible we must keep on fighting so we can keep a multi-
ethnic city». But others (notably Croats and Serbs), did not take
such a hard line on dividing the city. «Why not? Let it be
divided if it means peace», said Dobrislav Savic, 60, a Serb, «In
time people will get back together again». A Croat woman, 19 year-
old Suzana Sarec, said she did not want to see Sarajevo split in
half. But if opposing the idea meant more carnage, then she was
all for partition. It is better to divide this city than to kill
all these young people«, she said. *3837
(c) International reported events
BiH President Alija Izetbegovic and Bosnian Serb leader
Radovan Karadzic went into a final meeting at the Geneva peace
talks amid conflicting claims. After morning talks, Karadzic said
that the BiH government had agreed that Sarajevo should be split
into «twin cities». However, BiH ambassador to the United
Nations, Mohamed Sacirbey told reporters: «There is no agreement
on Sarajevo». Diplomats close to the conference said that the
most likely Sarajevo deal would involve the Serbs ceding to BiH
two industrial suburbs, Vogosca and Ilijas. In return, the Serbs
were demanding two besieged Muslim enclaves to the east,
Srebrenica and Zepa, but would leave Gorazde in BiH hands. *3838
3. 3/12/93 (Friday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UNPROFOR said that 140 mortar
shells fell on the city, particularly on civilian areas during
the day. *3839 UNPROFOR also reported that the mortar shelling in
the city (especially the eastern part) had increased the tension
in Sarajevo. *3840
Source(s): Agence France Presse; UNPROFOR.
- Targets Hit :
- A makeshift emergency clinic next to the city
bakery; the Princip Bridge; the Old Town; the Vogosca area.
Source(s): Reuters; Agence France Presse.
- Description of Damage :
- Loss of civilian lives.
Source(s):
Reuters; Agence France Presse.
- Sniping Activity :
- A sniper critically wounded a French UN
peacekeeper in the city. A UN official said that the soldier, a
member of the French Legion, was critically wounded by a sniper
bullet in the Dobrinja area. The soldier's femoral artery was cut
and doctors were guarded about his chances of survival, said
spokesmman Colonel Guy de Battista. *3841 «A probable Bosnian
sniper equipped with a heavy calibre rifle hit a (French) soldier
in the lower part of the body, wounding him badly», UN military
spokesman Major Idesbald van Biesenbroeck said. He added, «the
gunner seems to have fired from a high floor of the building next
to the location of distribution». *3842 The soldier had been
guarding UN humanitarian workers while they delivered aid to the
people in the area. He was reportedly outside his armoured
personnel carrier but behind the turret of the vehicle's machine-
gun. *3843 In another incident, a French soldier from the airport
protection detachment was lightly wounded in the hand by a bullet
from a Serb sniper position, van Biesenbroeck
said. *3844
Source(s): Reuters.
- Casualties :
- The final casualty toll was four dead and 13 injured,
according to UNPROFOR information. *3845
Source(s): Agence France
Presse.
- Narrative of Events :
-
Sporadic mortar and small arms fire hit the city
overnight and in the morning. *3846
Two people were killed and two others were wounded when
a shell landed near a makeshift emergency clinic next to the
city's main bakery. The area around the bakery was reportedly
exposed to Serb positions on hills just one kilometre south of
the city. Witnesses said the victims, a 50 year-old man and a 35
year-old woman, were killed when the shell hit as they left the
clinic. Two passers-by were slightly injured. The bodies were
reportedly still lying in the street more than two hours after
the attack. *3847
Earlier, at 8:30 a.m., *3848 a shell hit the Princip
bridge *3849 in the city centre, killing two people and wounding
eight, according to staff at the Kosevo hospital. Hospital staff
also said that six people were wounded when a shell landed in the
centre of the city's Old Town early in the morning. *3850
The Yugoslav Tanjug news agency reported that BiH
forces fired small arms and mortars into Serb positions in the
Vogosca area. *3851
(b) Local reported events
(c) International reported events
4. 4/12/93 (Saturday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UNPROFOR described Sarajevo as
tense in the city centre, with heavy shelling in the Tito camp
area. *3859
Source(s): UNPROFOR.
- Targets Hit :
- The city centre; the Tito camp area.
Source(s):
UNPROFOR.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Fog reportedly brought a respite from sniper
and shelling attacks in the city during the day. *3860
Source(s):
Reuters.
- Casualties :
- Officials at the Kosevo hospital said that they
operated on a Bosnian woman wounded when a mortar bomb hit the
city centre. *3861
Source(s): Reuters.
- Narrative of Events :
-
Sarajevo radio said that the city suffered shelling
overnight Friday and into the morning. *3862
Fog reportedly brought a respite from sniper and
shelling attacks in the city during the day. *3863
(b) Local reported events
The situation in the city had reportedly been worsened
because its power was diverted to the north-eastern enclave of
Tuzla, where a missile knocked out a coal-fired generating plant.
There were few details on the missile, but UNPROFOR Commander van
Biesenbroeck said that it had severely damaged pumps, cables and
water pipes. Lieutenant Colonel Bill Aikman, another UNPROFOR
spokesman, said that the city's sharing of electricity with Tuzla
meant that power would probably be available only on a rotating
basis until repairs were finished. *3864
A mild earthquake shook central BiH in the evening. Two
tremors could be felt in Sarajevo, the first at 9:05 p.m., and
the second at 6:23 a.m. Sunday. The BiH Seismological Institute
said that the tremors measured between three and four on the
Mercalli scale, meaning that it was barely felt. Sarajevo
television reported that the quake's epicentre was about 95 miles
(150 kilometres) from the city, but did not say in which
direction. *3865
(c) International reported events
Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic asked Bulgaria to
mediate with international organizations for the lifting of
United Nations sanctions against his republic. «We are certain
that in the near future, sanctions will be softened or lifted
since there is no longer a reason for them», Kontic said after
meeting Bulgarian Prime Minister Lyuben Berov in Sofia. *3866
6. 5/12/93 (Sunday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UNPROFOR reported 70 shells fired
by Serb forces and 10 fired by BiH forces. *3867 UNPROFOR
described the city as relatively calm. Infantry street fighting
was also reported. *3868
Source(s): Agence France Presse;
Reuters.
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- BiH officials said that eight people were wounded in
the 24 hour period ending at noon. *3869
Source(s): United Press
International.
- Narrative of Events :
-
Bosnian Serb force, quoted by the Tanjug news agency,
said that BiH forces had stepped up their attacks in the Sarajevo
area, shelling 10 areas under Serb control. *3870
(b) Local reported events
6. 6/12/93 (Monday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UNPROFOR spokesman Bill Aikman
said that the city was hit with 93 shells (a relatively low
number), but that it was noticeable that populated areas rather
than front lines were attacked. *3872 Aikman said that while the
number of shells to hit the city on Monday was relatively low,
populated areas rather than front lines were attacked. «What is
significant is where it hit», Aikman told reporters. «The main
targeting was the populated areas of the city, whereas in the
past few weeks and months it has been mainly along the
confrontation lines». When asked about Serb denials that they had
shelled the city, Aikman said: «It boggles the
mind». *3873
Source(s): Reuters.
- Targets Hit :
- The Ciglane market; the area near the BiH army
headquarters; an unidentified cemetery; the Hrasno neighbourhood.
Source(s):United Press International; Reuters; The Press
Association.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Sniper fire was reported in an unidentified
cemetery during a funeral for two shelling victims.
Source(s):
The Press Association; United Press International.
- Casualties :
- Six persons were reported killed and 29 others
wounded in the day's shelling. *3874
Source(s): Agence France
Presse.
- Narrative of Events :
-
One shell reportedly hit a market *3875 near the
Olympic stadium, killing four persons, and another, which
Sarajevo radio said was a tank round, hit near the BiH army
headquarters. The market was near the Kosevo hospital. Kemal
Drnda, chief surgeon at the Kosevo hospital, said that 19 wounded
adult civilians were treated after the shelling, 17 of them
severely injured. A Reuter photographer traveling to the scene
said that people dived for cover as the shelling started. He said
that he saw three or four shells land within a few hundred metres
of the hospital. *3876
A short time after the market was hit, mortar rounds
landed in a cemetery during the funerals of a 34 year-old woman
and an older man who were killed in shelling last week. There
were no reported injuries. There was, however, continuous sniper
fire as the mourners gathered, and three shells landed, each
closer to the funeral party than the previous ones. *3877
A shell reportedly landed in the Hrasno neighbourhood,
wounding at least two persons, including a child playing in his
home. Ten year-old Danijel Dorotic was playing with his friend in
his family's sixth floor apartment when a shell landed outside.
«I heard the explosion and felt pain in my stomach», he said from
his hospital bed, showing a shrapnel wound. Another shell hit a
heavily traveled alleyway near Marsal Tito Street. *3878
The day's shelling reportedly lasted five hours and was
the heaviest in more than a week. It also reportedly came the day
after the first infantry clashes in weeks between Serb forces and
the BiH army. *3879
Bosnian Serbs denied firing the shells and accused
government forces of attacking their own people, Belgrade TV
reported. *3880
(b) International reported events
EC mediator, Lord Owen, said that there could be no
peace accord in BiH unless the BiH government got at least a
third of the republic's territory. «The [peace] process is on
track. But the basic fact is that we look for more territory» for
the government, Owen said after briefing the European Community
foreign ministers on the peace talks in Geneva. *3881
BiH Vice President Ejup Ganic called on the
international community to put a stop to «the genocide of the
Bosnian people». Ganic criticized western countries, notably the
United States and Britain, for what he called their «passive and
negative» role in the face of the «tragedy» afflicting his
country, which had been unjustly deprived by the UN arms embargo
«of the right to defend itself against the Serbian and Croatian
armies». His comments were made during a press conference in
Rabat following talks with King Hassan II of Morocco. *3882
Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic told a Belgrade
newspaper that a settlement to the war could be reached by the
end of the year, but he said that the BiH government had
unrealistic territorial demands. «Expectations are that a peace
agreement will be concluded by the end of the year, which implies
a fair and frank approach to the resolution of controversial
issues», Karadzic was quoted as saying by Vecernje Novosti.
Karadzic accused the BiH of stalling the negotiating process.
«How else can we interpret unrealistic Muslim demands that few
are ready to support?» Karadzic said. *3883
7. 7/12/93 (Tuesday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UNPROFOR reported that «major
activity», including heavy artillery fire, took place all day,
overnight and on Wednesday, between the BiH army and Bosnian Serb
troops in the suburb of Grbavica. The fighting was reportedly
heaviest around the Vrbanja bridge where BiH troops made some
advances. The BiH-controlled Stup and Dobrinja neighbourhoods
also came under artillery and mortar fire but frontlines did not
change. «A lot of shelling» was reported from the northern Kosevo
neighbourhood and from Busovaca on Mount Igman. *3884
Source(s):
Agence France Presse.
- Targets Hit :
- Grbavica; the area around the Vrbanja bridge; Stup;
Dobrinja; the Kosevo area; Mt. Igman; Vogosca; Gornji Kotorac.
Source(s): Agence France Presse; Reuters.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
UNPROFOR spokesman, Bill Aikman, said that «major
activity», including heavy artillery fire, took place all day,
overnight and on Wednesday, between the BiH army and Bosnian Serb
troops in the suburb of Grbavica. The fighting was reportedly
heaviest around the Vrbanja bridge where BiH troops made some
advances, Aikman said. The BiH-controlled Stup and Dobrinja
neighbourhoods also came under artillery and mortar fire but
frontlines did not change. «A lot of shelling» was reported from
the northern Kosevo neighbourhood and from Busovaca on Mount
Igman, according to the spokesman. *3885
Tanjug reported that BiH forces had launched strong
attacks on Serb positipons in the Grbavica, Vogosca and Gornji
Kotorac districts. However the agency, quoting Serb military
sources, dismissed a UN report that BiH forces appeared to have
made military gains along the front line running through central
Sarajevo. *3886
(b) Local reported events
(c) International reported events
8. 8/12/93 (Wednesday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- Late into the evening, Bosnian Serb
and BiH soldiers engaged in heavy fighting in the Grbavica
district.
Source(s): United Press International; Reuters.
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- According to UN military spokesman Bill Aikman, the
day's fighting killed one person in the city centre. *3890
Source(s): Reuters.
- Narrative of Events :
-
Late into the evening, Bosnian Serb and BiH soldiers
engaged in heavy fighting in the Grbavica district. UN officials,
however, said that despite intense fighting over the last several
days, the frontline had shifted only a few yards. Observers noted
that the increase in fighting appeared to be a move by BiH forces
to regain control of Grbavica in advance of a settlement that
could include some division of Sarajevo. *3891 «The fighting was
heavy in Grbavica», said UNPROFOR spokesman Bill Aikman. «The
fighting went on into the evening, well after darkness, which is
not the norm in this part of the country». *3892
(b) Local reported events
Bosnian Serb leader Momcilo Krajisnik and BiH Prime
Minister Haris Silajdzic, held a second day of peace talks at the
airport. «They are basically a continuation of the Geneva peace
process», UN mediator Viktor Andreev said. Krajisnik was quoted
by the Belgrade-based Tanjug news agency as saying that the two
sides had discussed territorial questions including the status of
Sarajevo and access to the sea. *3893
9. 9/12/93 (Thursday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- «The last 24 hours have been very
difficult and very tense», UNPROFOR spokesman Bill Aikman said at
midday. Bosnian Serb forces hit the city with around 270 shells
overnight, with most falling on frontline areas, while the BiH
army fired 46 shells, Aikman added. Infantry clashes were also
reported, Aikman said. *3894 The day's shelling came amid
increased fighting in the Grbavica area, and after talks between
Bosnian Serbs and the BiH government appeared to have broken off.
*3895
Source(s): Agence France Presse; United Press
International.
- Targets Hit :
- Stup; the airport area; Zuc; a market in the Cengic
Vila district; an unidentified park in the centre of the Old Town
area.
Source(s): Agence France Presse; Reuters; United Press
International; The Press Association.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Three persons were reported wounded by snipers
in a residential district. *3896 UNPROFOR reported a marked
increase in sniper fire due to improved visibility after weeks of
fog.
Source(s): United Press International; Agence France Presse.
- Casualties :
- Intense shelling and sporadic sniper fire reportedly
killed at least eight people and wounded 26 others, hospital and
local media reports said. *3897
Source(s): United Press
International.
- Narrative of Events :
-
Bosnian Serb press agency SRNA said that Bosnian Serb
forces had repulsed overnight, «a violent attack» by BiH
government forces on the Serb-held suburb of Ilidza. Citing the
Bosnian Serb military press service, the agency said that the BiH
troops had «lost men» in the attack, but gave no further details.
*3898 UNPROFOR spokesman Aikman said that the worst of the
fighting had centered on Grbavica, adding that improved
visibility after weeks of fog had led to a marked increase in
sniper fire. The Stup district and the airport zone also came
under heavy shelling, as did the northern height of Zuc, he said.
*3899
Four persons were killed and four wounded when three
mortar shells hit a busy market at around 2:30 p.m.. The mortar
rounds fell on a makeshift market in a parking lot surrounded by
high-rise apartment buildings in the Cengic Vila district. «There
were about 50 to 100 people outside», said Enesa Halilovic, 26, a
BiH television employee who lived near the market. «About 10
people fell down. At first I thought all of them were dead».
Officials at the French hospital near the site and at the Kosevo
hospital, said that three men and one woman were killed in the
shelling, and four other persons were wounded. The shells
shattered glass in the surrounding apartment buildings and
scattered shrapnel and garbage from trash bins in the parking
lot. *3900 One of the persons killed was one of the city's
leading children's doctors, Dr. Galib Eleho, a pediatrician well
known for his work with UNICEF. «One of our trucks was delivering
milk to the (adjacent) clinic for a baby food program», said a
UNICEF spokesman. «Eleho had just stepped out to arrange for
someone to unload it when the mortar landed and killed him».
*3901
Several of the shells reportedly hit at least eight
locations in crowded areas within minutes of each other, and were
reported to have come from Bosnian Serb positions in the hills
surrounding the city. Eyewitnesses said that one shell hit a park
in the centre of the Old Town area, missing a crowded market by
only several yards. No one was injured. *3902
(c) International reported events
Peace mediators Lord Owen and Thorvald Stoltenberg, met
Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, Bosnian Serb leader Radovan
Karadzic and Momcilo Krajisnik, speaker of the Bosnian Serb
assembly, for several hours in Belgrade in a continuation of the
Geneva peace process. Their spokesman, John Mills, said that he
had no further details of the Belgrade discussions. «They hope to
be in a position to hold a meeting beginning 20 December. No
decision has been taken on the venue for that meeting», Mills
said. «Meanwhile they will continue their contacts with the
parties». *3903
Peace mediators Lord Owen and Thorvald Stoltenberg, who
had planned a meeting of all of the warring parties in the
northern Greek port of Salonika on Sunday, decided instead to
arrange another round of talks in the week beginning 20 December.
«Their view after [Thursday's] meeting [with Serb leaders in
Belgrade] was that the time is not quite ready for a meeting
between the parties this weekend as had been envisaged»,
spokesman John Mills said at UN headquarters in Croatia. *3904
10. 10/12/93 (Friday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- Shells reportedly hit residential
districts as well as contested front-line areas to the north of
the city. *3905
Source(s): Reuters.
- Targets Hit :
- Dobrinja; Butmir; the area near the airport; the
area near the PTT building.
Source(s): UNPROFOR.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- UNPROFOR reported that at least 21 people were
wounded by sniper fire on this day. *3906
Source(s): Agence
France Presse.
- Casualties :
- The city's crisis centre reported 11 persons killed
and 38 wounded in artillery and sniper attacks in the 24 hours up
to mid-afternoon. *3907
Source(s): Reuters.
- Narrative of Events :
-
UNPROFOR reported heavy shelling in Dobrinja, Butmir,
and around the airport. In central Sarajevo, the situation was
tense too, with shelling reported around the PTT building. *3908
(b) Local reported events
11. 11/12/93 (Saturday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- Sirens sounded a general alert in
the city as Bosnian Serb forces hit the city with tank, artillery
and mortar fire. UNPROFOR reported that the city had been hit by
250 shell rounds since Friday in Serb retaliation for an attack
on Lukavica where the Bosnian Serb army had its headquarters.
Source(s): Reuters.
- Targets Hit :
- The Lukavica barracks; Dobrinja; Stup; the city
centre; Grbavica; the airport area.
Source(s): Reuters; Agence
France Presse; United Press International.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- At least two persons were wounded in the day's
shelling.
Source(s): Reuters.
- Narrative of Events :
-
Sirens sounded a general alert in the city as Bosnian
Serb forces hit the city with tank, artillery and mortar fire.
UNPROFOR reported that the city had been hit by 250 shell rounds
since Friday in Serb retaliation for an attack on Lukavica where
the Bosnian Serb army had its headquarters. «The Bosnian army
assaulted with shelling Lukavica yesterday and I suspect that was
part of the reason for the large number coming back», said Bill
Aikman, UNPROFOR spokesman. At least one BiH shell hit the Serb
barracks in the morning while UN military observers were in the
buildings but no casualties were reported. Sarajevo radio said
that at least two civilians had been wounded in the city by Serb
return fire. *3910
The shell fire came from the heights to the west of the
city, Aikman said. Districts worst affected by the shelling
included Dobrinja and Stup, the city centre, and the district of
Grbavica. In response, the BiH army fired 27 rounds into Bosnian
Serb-held districts, notably the Lukavica barracks to the south,
he added. *3911
Bosnian Serbs reportedly shelled the airport, hitting a
terminal building and forcing the suspension of some relief
flights. *3912
(b) Local reported events
United Nations officials were reportedly angered and
frustrated at what they portrayed as an effort by Bosnian Serbs
to systematically block relief convoys. «We are having blockages,
blockages, blockages», said UNPROFOR spokesman Bill Aikman.
Today, two convoys had been turned back as they headed for the
besieged city of Gorazde. *3913
(c) International reported events
In Belgrade, Aleksa Buha, the foreign minister of the
Bosnian Serb republic, was quoted by the Tanjug news agency as
saying that a European Community plan for the Serbs to relinquish
more territory in exchange for the gradual lifting of sanctions
on Serbia had set the peace talks back to square one. Buha said
that BiH were avoiding a definitive solution in the hope that
they would eventually take over the whole territory. *3914
12. 12/12/93 (Sunday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UNPROFOR reported that shelling
activity decreased and that tension in the city dropped to a
relatively low level (with the exception of eastern Sarajevo).
*3915
Source(s): UNPROFOR.
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
UNPROFOR reported that shelling activity decreased and
that tension in the city dropped to a relatively low level (with
the exception of eastern Sarajevo). *3916
(b) Local reported events
Reuters reported that the recent October purge of mafia-
style leaders and renegade units from the BiH army had
revitalized the forces. «There is a new testiness on the part of
the Bosnians», said UNPROFOR spokesman Bill Aikman. «They are not
being pansies. Aikman said that the BiH forces had moved forward
by »a few houses« in the Grbavica area and been firing an
unusually high number of shells and mortar bombs at the Serb
forces. BiH army deputy commander Colonel Jovan Divjak stated
that ridding the army of criminals and other »uncontrolled
elements« had been a major factor in improving discipline and
solidarity among the troops. *3917
13. 13/12/93 (Monday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- Not specified
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
No reported incidents.
14. 14/12/93 (Tuesday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UNPROFOR reported that Sarajevo
suffered a new period of a high level of shelling, mainly in the
downtown area. More than 300 shell rounds were reported by
observers. *3918
Source(s): UNPROFOR.
- Targets Hit :
- The downtown area; the Drvenija bridge; the Egyptian
UNPROFOR barracks near the Old Town; the Kosevo hospital;
Grbavica; the airport area; the road to Pale.
Source(s):
UNPROFOR; Reuters; Agence France Presse; New York Times; United
Press International.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- One BiH soldier was killed by a sniper in the
Vogosca district. *3919 UNPROFOR reported that sniper activity
was high in the
city. *3920
Source(s): Reuters; UNPROFOR.
- Casualties :
- UNPROFOR reported that at least 11 persons were
killed and 19 others were wounded. *3921
Source(s): UNPROFOR.
- Narrative of Events :
-
The morning was reported as quiet after shelling and
sniping continued well into the night. *3922
Doctors at the Kosevo hospital said that five women and
three men were killed when two mortar shells landed near the
Drvenija bridge at 1:00 p.m., and near the Old Town barracks of
the Egyptian UN brigade. *3923 Relative calm in recent days
appeared to have enticed many Sarajevans out of their homes on
this sunny afternoon, raising the day's casualty count. A surgeon
at the Kosevo hospital, Dr. Kemal Drnda, said that many of the
wounded civilians suffered abdominal wounds from shrapnel. *3924
A Reuters photographer said that a 120 millimetre
mortar bomb hit a building in the Kosevo hospital complex. There
were no injuries
reported. *3925
Shells and automatic weapons fire were reported in the
Grbavica district. *3926
Idesbald van Biesenbroeck, a spokesman for UNPROFOR
said that Serb forces fired more than 200 artillery shells and
mortar bombs on the
city. *3927
The airport was closed at 10:00 a.m., for three hours
after two mortar shells, reportedly fired from the Serb-
controlled Rajlovac district, fell near some buildings. *3928
van Biesenbroeck said that the BiH forces fired 32
shells, most of them aimed at the road to Pale. *3929
As night fell, machine-gun fire could still be heard
from the direction of Grbavica. *3930
(b) Local reported events
A BiH army official told Sarajevo radio in the evening
that Serb forces were redeploying troops, tanks and other heavy
weaponry to new positions around the city and warned residents to
remain under cover. *3931
The day's shelling, which began in the morning, forced
UNPROFOR to close the airport for three hours. *3932
The United Nations agreed with Bosnian Serb forces to
expedite the shipment of aid and military resupply past Serbian
checkpoints in BiH by allowing the faction's police to escort
convoys. Angus Ramsay, deputy commander of UN forces in BiH
reached an unsigned «understanding» with Bosnian Serb General
Manojlo Milovanovic that the Serbs would not obstruct UN convoys
and would halt the practice of inspecting aid convoys at numerous
checkpoints in Bosnian-Serb held territory. In exchange, the
United Nations agreed that Serbian police using UN supplied fuel
would escort the convoys and that the UN would help maintain the
roads it used. «This agreement should minimize delays, but it
doesn't mean that everything was solved», UN military spokesman
Idesbald van Biesenbroeck said. *3933
(c) International reported events
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe called on the
United Nations to use air strikes against those violating
agreements on the safe passage of humanitarian aid in BiH. «I
have to ask myself why the United Nations is not using force in
Sarajevo», he told the French television channel France 2 after
viewing film of the victims of shelling in the city. «It has all
the necessary means. Everyone has committed himself to ensuring
the delivery of humanitarian aid and the preservation of the
security zones. So, why, when someone violates the agreements,
when the Serbs violate them, why doesn't it use air force?» he
asked. *3934
15. 15/12/93 (Wednesday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UNPROFOR reported that 163 shells
hit the
city. *3935 UNPROFOR also reported that the high level of
shelling in the city had continued. Several areas of the city
were reportedly affected, including the downtown. UNPROFOR
commented that these events indicated that the Bosnian Serb army
intended to carry on pressuring and harassing Sarajevo residents.
However, UNPROFOR noted that an offensive on the city was
considered unlikely. *3936
Source(s): The Press Association;
UNPROFOR.
- Targets Hit :
- Mojmilo; Stup; Zuc; the downtown area.
Source(s):
Agence France Presse; Reuters; UNPROFOR.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Sarajevo radio reported in the morning that 24
persons had been killed and 20 wounded over the past 24 hours.
*3937 One person was killed and 11 others were wounded in
separate attacks on the city. *3938
Source(s): Reuters; Agence
France Presse.
- Narrative of Events :
-
Fighting continued throughout the night in the city,
where Sarajevo radio reported in the morning that 24 persons had
been killed and 20 wounded over the past 24 hours. *3939
One person was killed and 11 others were wounded in
separate attacks on the city. A number of mortars hit the Mojmilo
district in the south of the city, killing one person and
wounding three others, Sarajevo radio said. *3940
Bosnian Serb and BiH forces reportedly traded artillery
and mortar rounds in the suburbs, including Stup and Zuc in the
north-west. *3941
16. 16/12/93 (Thursday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- An estimated 580 Bosnian Serb
shells fell on the city between 6:00 p.m. Wednesday and 9:30 a.m.
Thursday, according to UNPROFOR spokesman Idesbald van
Biesenbroeck. He added that «a large number of BiH shells were
also fired. van Biesenbroeck said that Serb forces accused BiH
forces of making territorial gains in the sectors of Rajlovac and
Grbavica but added that UNPROFOR had been unable to confirm any
changes. He said that BiH forces had begun the clashes by
targeting Serb-held districts, which sparked a massive response.
*3942 By the end of the day, the United Nations said that it had
reports from Bosnian Serbs that BiH troops had taken several
hundred yards in the Rajlovac district and a few buildings in the
Grbavica district. But a UN military spokesman said that the BiH
gains were unlikely to weaken the Bosnian Serb forces. »The gains
they won were so minimal they would not change anything. But I
think the Serbs will of course retaliate«, said UNPROFOR
spokesman Idesbald van Biesenbroeck. *3943 UNPROFOR reported that
Bosnian Serb forces fired 743 shells on the city. *3944
Source(s): Agence France Presse; United Press International;
Reuters.
- Targets Hit :
- The area near the Vrbanja bridge; Stup; Grbavica; a
bread line on Marsal Tito Street in the Old Town area.
Source(s):
Reuters; Agence France Presse.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- BiH army sniper activity was reported.
Source(s): Reuters.
- Casualties :
- Shelling killed one person and wounded 35 others, BiH
radio said. Sniper fire from the BiH army injured five persons in
the Grbavica district, the Bosnian Serb SRNA news agency said.
*3945
Source(s): Reuters.
- Narrative of Events :
-
Bosnian Serb forces reportedly hit the city with
artillery and tank fire during the night and into the morning.
Sarajevo radio said that the Serb forces were firing at the
Vrbanja bridge, which crosses the Miljacka river in the centre of
the city. Shells also landed in the Stup suburb and other parts
of the city. *3946
Infantry attacks backed by heavy automatic weapons fire
broke out at dawn in Grbavica, which BiH troops were trying to
capture. *3947
Six persons were wounded when a mortar shell hit a
bread line on Marsal Tito Street in the Old Town area. *3948 The
shell reportedly hit at 1:20 p.m., near two trucks loaded with
bread awaiting distribution to civilians. *3949
United Nations officials in Sarajevo speculated that
the fighting was an attempt by Bosnian Serb leaders to put
pressure on the BiH government to sign a peace plan. The BiH army
counter-attacks, they felt, were an attempt to show that the army
could still strike back. *3950
(b) Local reported events
Bosnian Croat and BiH commanders agreed to a Christmas
truce to run from 23 December to 3 January, Croatian radio
reported. General Ante Roso, commander of the Bosnian Croat
Defence Council, and BiH General Rasim Delic approved the
agreement at a meeting at the UN headquarters in Kiseljak. *3951
Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic agreed to the truce on
Wednesday following talks with the UNPROFOR BiH commander General
Francis Briquemont. «Mladic said that he would respect the truce
as long as he was not attacked, UNPROFOR spokesman Idesbald Van
Biesenbroeck said.
BiH Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic said on Sarajevo
radio that talks at the airport with Momcilo Krajisnik, speaker
of the Bosnian Serb parliament, had failed to reach agreement on
any key issues. «The Serb side is continuing to reject our
claims», he said. *3952
In Belgrade, Serbian opposition leader Vuk Draskovic
told voters at a rally that the world would lift economic
sanctions if his party won Sunday's parliamentary elections.
Draskovic accused President Slobodan Milosevic of selling out the
country's interests and mismanaging the economy. Milosevic called
for early elections on 19 December after dissolving the Serbian
parliament. *3953
17. 17/12/93 (Friday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- Bosnian Serb forces reportedly
fired 138 shells into the city. BiH forces reportedly fired two
shells out of the city. *3954
Source(s): Reuters.
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- At least three persons were reported killed,
according to the city morgue. *3955
Source(s): Reuters.
- Narrative of Events :
-
Bosnian Serb and BiH forces traded shell and small arms
fire overnight, but the fighting eased after dawn. *3956 Sporadic
shelling and small arms fire were reported in the city during the
day. *3957
The UNPROFOR Sarajevo sector commander General Andre
Soubirou denied Serb claims that UN troops had withdrawn from
sites on Mount Igman where they were monitoring demilitarized
zones. Spokesman van Biesenbroeck also denied reports of BiH army
attacks on the western heights of the city. *3958
(b) International reported events
Geneva mediators Lord Owen and Thorvald Stoltenberg
held talks in Belgrade on the conflict in BiH with Serb and Croat
representatives while BiH officials held talks in Vienna with
European Community representatives. The meetings came ahead of a
new round of negotiations next week in Geneva and Brussels
involving all parties to the conflict. *3959
18. 18/12/93 (Saturday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- Shelling and heavy sniper fire were
reported in the city.
Source(s): United Press International;
Reuters.
- Targets Hit :
- An unidentified hospital; Ilidza.
Source(s): United
Press International; Reuters.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- The city reportedly came under heavy sniper
fire. *3960
Source(s): United Press International.
- Casualties :
- Two people were reportedly killed and 17 others
wounded from shelling and sniper fire. *3961
Source(s): Reuters.
- Narrative of Events :
-
Six persons were severely wounded when a shell landed
near a city hospital. *3962
The Tanjug news agency reported that two persons in
Ilidza were killed and four others wounded by BiH shelling. *3963
(b) Local reported events
A Canadian transport aeroplane airlifted six sick and
wounded children and six of their relatives out of Sarajevo. The
evacuation was part of a larger mission by UNHCR, the
International Organization for Migration and the British
government to ferry 90 sick and injured to treatment abroad. The
children were initially flown to the UNHCR operations base in
Ancona, Italy, with some going to Britain and the rest to the
United States. *3964
(c) International reported events
Belgian Foreign Minister Will Claes, whose country held
the European Community presidency, commented on Friday's meeting
with BiH Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic in Vienna: «It was not a
question of putting pressure on the Moslems, but finding out what
their position was», he said in a statement released today.
«Further concessions are expected from the Serbs as well as
greater flexibility from all sides», he added. *3965
19. 19/12/93 (Sunday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UNPROFOR reported 142 shell impacts
on the BiH side with the shelling concentrated on the areas of
Stup, Zuc, Kobilja Glava, Grbavica and the city centre. *3966
Source(s): UNPROFOR.
- Targets Hit :
- Stup; Zuc; Kobilja Glava; Grbavica; the city centre.
Source(s): UNPROFOR.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
UNPROFOR reported 142 shell impacts on the BiH side
with the shelling concentrated on the areas of Stup, Zuc, Kobilja
Glava, Grbavica and the city centre. *3967
(b) Local reported events
20. 20/12/93 (Monday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- Heavy shelling was reported in the
city as BiH President Alija Izetbegovic and Prime Minister Haris
Silajdzic were leaving the Presidency building for the airport
and a flight to Geneva for resumed peace talks. *3970 Observers
reported that a total of 213 shell rounds hit the city on this
day. *3971
Source(s): Reuters; United Press International.
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
At dawn, machine-gun fire could be heard from Vrbanja
bridge near the Holiday Inn, where Serb and BiH soldiers had
clashed in recent days. *3972
At the airport, an Ilyushin-76 transport was hit by
five heavy machine-gun bullets as it prepared to land, damaging
one of its fuel tanks. The airlift was thereafter suspended.
*3973
Two children were killed and one other was injured when
masonry collapsed on them while playing in a deserted shell-
damaged house in the Buca Potok district in the north of the
city. *3974
(b) Local reported events
21. 21/12/93 (Tuesday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- Bosnian Serb forces hit the city
with a total of 1,500 artillery shells, in what UN officials
described as the heaviest attack in two months. *3976
Source(s):
Reuters.
- Targets Hit :
- Stup; Rajlovac; Zuc.
Source(s): United Press
International; Agence France Presse.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- UNPROFOR reported that six civilians were killed and
26 others were wounded in the day's shelling. *3977
Source(s):
UNPROFOR.
- Narrative of Events :
-
Heavy artillery and mortar shells hit the city in the
morning, with 118 shell rounds falling in four hours. *3978
The UN said that most shells struck Stup and Rajlovac,
frontline areas on the edge of the city. However, the
confrontation line had not changed there, a UN official said. UN
military spokesman Idesbald van Biesenbroeck said that the
shelling was probably more harassment than an all-out attack
because the Rajlovac area had little strategic value. «I think
it's a last-minute push before the Geneva talks, but it's only a
show of force», he
said. *3979
Shelling also continued on the Muslim-held Zuc hill to
the north of the city. *3980
(b) Local reported events
UNHCR announced that the city's humanitarian airlift
would resume on Wednesday after being suspended on Monday
following an attack on an air transport. UNHCR spokesperson
Sylvana Foa said that three conditions set by the UN for aid
flights to resume had been met. UNHCR had asked for a formal
protest to be lodged with the faction responsible for the
shooting, an immediate investigation and guarantees for the
safety of aid flights from leaders from all sides. Officials were
not sure of the origin of the Monday's gunfire, but it appeared
to be from Serb-held territory. «The shots signaled that the
shooter intended to seriously damage the aircraft», Foa said.
«They fired directly below the aircraft as it was making its
final approach above Bosnian Serb territory», she added. The
incident reportedly resulted in the most severe damage sustained
by a UN aircraft operating in the area since a German aeroplane
was hit by anti-aircraft fire in February 1993. It was also the
sixth reported incident at the airport in six weeks (152
incidents had been recorded since the airlift began in July
1992). *3981
(c) International reported events
In Geneva, BiH said that they could not accept a new
Serb-Croat map for BiH, even though it gave them the one-third of
the territory that they were demanding. The proposal was
presented to BiH President Izetbegovic in late-night talks. A
spokesman for the BiH government said that the new map was
«totally unacceptable» because it took no notice of specific
demands on territory. «I have to say that all the concessions
have been made with land that does not belong to the Moslems»,
said spokesman Mirza Hajric. «We do not get anything we asked for
. . . [we got] a lot of quantity but not
quality». *3982
22. 22/12/93 (Wednesday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UNPROFOR observers reported that
228 shell rounds hit the city overnight until 9:00 a.m.. *3983
UNPROFOR observers reported that 1,744 shells landed in the city.
*3984
Source(s): Reuters; UNPROFOR.
- Targets Hit :
- Zuc.
Source(s): Reuters.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- UNPROFOR observers reported that shelling killed one
person and wounded 12 others. *3985
Source(s): UNPROFOR; Reuters.
- Narrative of Events :
-
The Bosnian Serb shelling of the city continued. Heavy
fighting was reported around Zuc and Rajlovac. BiH radio said
that several thousand shell rounds hit the city. *3986
UNPROFOR spokesman Idesbald van Biesenbroeck said that
most of the morning shelling centered on Zuc, a desolate hilltop
battlefield overlooking key roadways in and around the city.
*3987
(b) Local reported events
Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic appeared to have
fallen just short of a majority in Sunday's elections for the
Serbian Parliament. In what had been billed as the announcement
of the final results, the official election supervising
commission announced that with 98.65 per cent of the votes
counted, Mr. Milosevic's Socialists had won 123 seats, leaving
them three seats short of control of the 250-seat Parliament.
However, the election commission said that some 4 per cent of the
vote counted had been declared invalid because of errors and
spoiled ballots in 45 polling stations and that another round of
voting would have to be held in those stations, probably within
the week. Zoran Djumic, the commission spokesman, said that it
was unlikely that the new round of voting would substantially
change the results. But he added, «anything is possible». *3988
The biggest defeat in the election appeared to have
been suffered by the militia leader, Arkan, who lost not only his
seat in Parliament, but the parliamentary immunity that went with
it. The candidate, whose real name is Zeljko Raznjatovic, mounted
the most expensive campaign, reportedly costing about $3 million,
but he did not keep any of the five seats that he had from the
Kosovo region. *3989
(c) International reported events
In Brussels, the warring factions agreed to a cease-
fire in time for Christmas. «The parties accepted the application
of a Christmas truce, which means the end of shelling, access for
humanitarian convoys, and access for UN peace-keeping troops»,
Belgian Foreign Minister Will Claes said. Officials of the
European Community said that no details had been worked out as to
how the cease-fire would be implemented. *3990
BiH Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic said that his
government had asked Serbs and Croats to return areas that had
been ethnically cleansed, but instead had been offered inviable
bits of «no-man's land». Asked if there had been progress toward
peace over the past several days, Silajdzic said, «I must say I
don't see any». Serbia and Croatia had reportedly failed to offer
the BiH government territory in two key areas--land in the west
that would give it territorial access to the Adriatic Sea, and
land in the east to tie together isolated Muslim enclaves. *3991
Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic rejected outright
an EC proposal that Sarajevo be put under the administration of
the United Nations, officials said. *3992
23. 23/12/93 (Thursday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UNPROFOR observers counted 1,309
artillery rounds hitting the city. *3993
Source(s): UNPROFOR;
Reuters.
- Targets Hit :
- Zuc; Grbavica; the area near the Parliament
building; Mojmilo; Dobrinja; Marsal Tito Street.
Source(s):
Reuters; Agence France Presse.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- UNPROFOR reported that snipers were active all
day in the city. *3994
Source(s): UNPROFOR.
- Casualties :
- At least 10 people were killed and 62 wounded in the
city, on the first day of a Christmas truce agreed to by the
parties in
Brussels. *3995
Source(s): Agence France Presse.
- Narrative of Events :
-
Heavy fighting erupted in the city in the morning, as
BiH and Bosnian Serb forces fought with artillery and mortars.
Shortly after 8:00 a.m., discharges of heavy weapons and light
automatic arms could be heard and were gaining intensity 50
minutes later. Within a three-hour period, UNPROFOR observers
tallied 142 shells fired by Bosnian Serb forces and 14 by BiH
forces. A UN spokesman said that it was impossible to determine
who had fired first. Artillery and mortar fire was heard coming
from the north of the city, probably from the Zuc hills. *3996
Intense artillery and mortar fire was reported around
Zuc. Scores of shells fell around Zuc and the Serb-held Grbavica
district. Government radio warned residents to stay indoors as
mortar, machine-gun and small-arms fire occurred along the inner-
city confrontation line near the parliament building throughout
the morning. *3997 A large building on the Serb side of the line
was reportedly burning through the afternoon and Serb forces were
said to be firing anti-aircraft and machine-gun fire into the
upper stores of BiH-held buildings. *3998
Heavy arms fire was also reported in the west in the
Mojmilo and Dobrinja districts. *3999 Mortar shelling reportedly
hit on Marsal Tito Street. *4000
In Belgrade, Tanjug news agency reported that BiH
forces had launched «fierce attacks» on Serb positions in several
sectors of the city. It added that three persons were injured in
BiH shelling of Grbavica. *4001
Heavy shelling continued late into the evening despite
a call by the United Nations to halt the fighting. «We hope that
all warring parties in Bosnia will spend their holiday season
with their families, rather than engaging in war-like
activities», said General Charles Ritchie, UNPROFOR chief of
staff. *4002
(b) Local reported events
A UN spokesman said that pilots would fly food into the
city on Christmas Day because besieging Serbs had cut its land
links to the outside world. «The situation is that Sarajevo is
for all intents and purposes effectively isolated from the
outside world by land», said Ray Wilkinson, Sarajevo spokesman
for UNHCR. He added that Serb forces were denying UN ground
convoys access to the city by the usual route from the south and
east, insisting on a more dangerous route near front lines. *4003
UNPROFOR spokesman Idesbald van Biesenbroeck said that
the cease-fire «doesn't work, at least for Sarajevo». He added
that he could not say how the truce (which started early
Thursday, just after midnight), was being observed in other parts
of BiH. *4004
(c) International reported events
Peace talks in Brussels between the three warring
factions ended without a settlement, mediator Lord Owen said.
Serb, Croat and Moslem leaders agreed to meet again on 15
January, the last date of an agreed Christmas truce. *4005 He
said that the current fighting in BiH could turn the cease-fire
into «just another joke». «Our experience is that cease-fires are
not worth the paper they are written on unless there is a
political underpinning», he said. Owen added: «If the political
will is missing, the parties will go away and fight through
January, February, and March, and there is nothing we can do
about it». *4006
24. 24/12/93 (Friday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- Fighting reportedly subsided
slightly in the city for the first time in a week. *4007
Source(s): Reuters.
- Targets Hit :
- A residential area near the French UNPROFOR base.
Source(s): Reuters.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- Three persons were killed and 39 others were wounded
in shelling of the city. *4008
Source(s): Reuters.
- Narrative of Events :
-
Mortar fire hit a residential area in the city centre,
with eight rounds landing near the French UN base. *4009
Although shelling subsided slightly in the city,
UNPROFOR spokesman Idesbald Van Biesebroeck said that Bosnian
Serb forces were attacking BiH forces to the north of the city.
«There is no cease-fire for the moment, that is very clear», he
said. «It is quite clear the Serb side is using quite a lot of
artillery», he said referring to the fighting near the city.
*4010
BiH radio reported that BiH forces had repelled a
Bosnian Serb infantry attack in the Zuc and Vogosca areas. *4011
(b) Local reported events
BiH President Alija Izetbegovic lashed out at the
European Community, complaining that officials had not put enough
pressure on Bosnian Serbs in the recent peace talks in Brussels.
Izetbegovic, who returned to Sarajevo today, stated in a
television and radio broadcast: «Europe has demonstrated its
feebleness by failing to persuade the Serbs on the issues of
Sarajevo and the Tuzla airport». «It is either a defect of power
or a defect of will» he
said. *4012
Speaking to Reuters television, Bosnian Serb leader
Radovan Karadzic threatened to withdraw all Serb offers of
territorial concessions to BiH unless they accepted the deal
currently on the table. Momcilo Krajisnik, head of the Bosnian
Serb assembly, said on Thursday that the BiH delegation was
demanding too much territory and was refusing to accept a
division of Sarajevo along ethnic lines. «It seems war is
inevitable and that we will fight for a long time, because we
have Moslem leadership that has no possibility, nor means to end
the war», Krajisnik told Belgrade state television. *4013
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe arrived in Sarajevo
to spend Christmas with French peacekeepers. He stated that he
was indignant that fighting had resumed in BiH despite the
parties' pledge to keep a Christmas truce. «I see with
indignation that once again a commitment has not been kept»,
Juppe said in a statement. Juppe singled out the continued
shelling of Sarajevo by Bosnian Serbs as criminal and barbaric.
But he condemned all three factions for continuing to attack in
the field while «pretending to discuss» in Brussels and Geneva.
«This obstinacy and this contempt for the life of civilians is
more than ever revolting», he added. «Those responsible must be
pointed out clearly». *4014
(c) International reported events
25. 25/12/93 (Saturday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UN monitors reported 689 shells
hitting the city, including several that landed near the Kosevo
Hospital. *4016
Source(s): Associated Press.
- Targets Hit :
- The area near the Kosevo hospital; Zuc.
Source(s):
Associated Press; United Press International.
- Description of Damage :
- The electricity installations at Zuc hill
were destroyed in the shelling.
Source(s): Associated Press;
United Press International.
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- One person was reportedly killed and 15 others were
wounded, bringing the city's casualty toll since Thursday to 11
dead and 99
wounded. *4017
Source(s): Associated Press.
- Narrative of Events :
-
BiH army officials reported a break in shellfire around
midnight Christmas Eve. At dawn, however, more automatic weapons
fire and shelling was reported. There was no immediate word on
casualties, but a UN forces spokesman confirmed that heavy
shelling continued to plague parts of the city for the fifth
consecutive day. *4018
The electricity installations at Zuc hill were
destroyed in the shelling of the city. According to reports, this
reduced the electricity supplied to the city to an average of
only 12 megawatts from a previous average of 35 megawatts of
electric power. Oberservers noted that the minimum of electricity
was barely enough for the city's water pumps. *4019
(b) Local reported events
(c) International reported events
German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel condemned the
fighting that broke out in BiH despite a cease-fire brokered for
the Christmas holiday season. «Obviously, the warring parties do
not want peace. That is bitter», he said in a statement issued by
the German Foreign Ministry. *4022
26. 26/12/93 (Sunday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- The Bosnian Serb-held Grbavica area
was targeted in the afternoon hours and Serb troops reportedly
responded by shelling BiH-held positions. *4023 Fierce fighting
was reported in the city centre late in the day, as BiH forces
battled Serbs near the Parliament building. *4024
Source(s):
Reuters; United Press International.
- Targets Hit :
- The area near the Holiday Inn; Vrbanja bridge;
Grbavica.
Source(s): Reuters; United Press International; Agence
France Presse.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Sporadic sniping was reported.
Source(s):
Reuters.
- Casualties :
- Sporadic shelling and sniping reportedly wounded 18
persons, hospital officials said. *4025
Source(s): Reuters.
- Narrative of Events :
-
Fierce fighting was reported in the city centre late in
the day, as BiH forces battled Serbs near the Parliament
building. Heavy machine-gun, small arms, mortar and artillery
fire were reported near the Holiday Inn. The fighting appeared to
be centered on the Vrbanja bridge about 500 metres away. Tracer
fire was reported and stray bullets could be heard hitting
buildings in the vicinity, a Reuters correspondent reported.
According to reports, BiH troops had made some gains against Serb
forces near the Parliament building in recent weeks and a BiH
offensive to take more land in the area had been rumoured for
several days. *4026
The Bosnian Serb-held Grbavica area was targeted in the
afternoon hours and Serb troops reportedly responded by shelling
BiH-held positions. *4027 The targeting of Grbavica increased at
about 12:30 p.m.. *4028
(b) Local reported events
(c) International reported events
27. 27/12/93 (Monday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- Artillery, machine-gun and small-
arms fire were reported through the hills surrounding the city.
BiH army soldiers accompanying the wounded reported that Serb
forces had captured two BiH trenches in the Vogosca battle zone
and that BiH troops were counter-attacking. Many of the dead and
wounded were soldiers from the fighting in that area. *4033
Artillery attacks were reported beginning at 5:00 a.m.. Shelling
intensified overnight and on Monday morning, with UNPROFOR
reporting 321 rounds hitting the city and 70 fired at Serb
positions. *4034 In the 24 hours up to 7:00 a.m., approximately
600 Serb-fired shells hit the city, while BiH forces fired 100
shells, UNPROFOR reported. *4035
Source(s): Reuters; Agence
France Presse.
- Targets Hit :
- Grbavica; «sniper's alley».
Source(s): UNPROFOR;
Reuters
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- At least seven persons were reported killed and 58
others wounded in the city. *4036
Source(s): Associated Press.
- Narrative of Events :
-
UNPROFOR reported violent fighting with heavy shelling,
particularly in Grbavica. *4037
Among the civilians wounded were five workers from
Sarajevo's television station who were hit by Serb fire while
travelling to work in a van in the area known as «sniper's
alley». *4038 It was later reported that one person was killed
and three others were wounded in the same incident. *4039
(b) Local reported events
An UNPROFOR spokesman charged that Serb forces had
deliberately cut electricity and were obstructing repairs to the
power grid. «The Serbs cut the power to Sarajevo and they are
hindering the repairs by refusing clearance for engineering teams
to do the necessary work», said Major Idesbald van Biesenbroeck.
He also said that the BiH government had retaliated by cutting
the power to Serb and Croat-held areas around the city. According
to reports, on 20 December the Bosnian Serb forces blew up a
pylon carrying electricity from Reljevo into the city. In
response, the BiH government cut off the utilities for Reljevo.
*4040
UNPROFOR commander, General Francis Briquemont said
that recent bombardments on the city's electrical supply system
«had no political or military purpose, but are tragic for human
lives». *4041
28. 28/12/93 (Tuesday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UN officials reported a decrease in
the level of fighting around the city. *4042
Source(s):
UNPROFOR.
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- UNPROFOR reported that snipers were active in
the
city. *4043
Source(s): United Press International.
- Casualties :
- The city morgue reported that three persons were
killed in the city. *4044
Source(s): United Press International.
- Narrative of Events :
-
UN officials reported a decrease in the level of
fighting around the city. *4045
Russian drivers ferrying diesel fuel into the city
faced problems when a tanker in their convoy was hit by small
arms fire near a front-line area on the approach to the city. The
tanker reportedly made it to the city leaking fuel. *4046
(b) Local reported events
After months of waiting, hundreds of persons began a
bus journey out of the city. Several previous departures had been
blocked by fighting or bureaucracy. Eight buses accompanied by a
UN escort left Tuesday for Lukavica. After Serb checks, they were
to go to Split, Croatia. Some people were then to go to third
countries. By the evening, about 400 persons had arrived in
Lukavica. About 200 were en route, and 200 others were still
waiting for a UN escort. Most of the evacuees were Muslims, who
were mainly women, children and elderly people. There were also
Croatians and Serbs, including a separate group of Serbs who were
going to Serb-held territory. *4047
29. 29/12/93 (Wednesday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- UNPROFOR observers reported that 74
artillery rounds hit the city. *4048
Source(s): UNPROFOR.
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- UNPROFOR reported a high level of sniper
activity. *4049
Source(s): UNPROFOR.
- Casualties :
- City hospitals reported 12 persons wounded by sniper
fire. *4050
Source(s): United Press International.
- Narrative of Events :
-
Occasional shelling was reported throughout the day.
*4051
(b) Local reported events
(c) International reported events
The United Nations commander in BiH said that the UN
Security Council and European Community should spend less time
passing resolutions on the former Yugoslavia and concentrate
instead on sending enough peace-keeping troops. «I don't read the
Security Council resolutions any more because they don't help
me», Lieutenant General Francis Briquemont of Belgium said in an
interview. «There is a fantastic gap between the resolutions of
the Security Council, the will to execute those resolutions and
the means available to commanders in the field». Briquemont
illustrated his complaint by pointing to Security Council
resolution 836, passed in April to establish «safe areas» around
BiH enclaves threatened by Bosnian Serb forces. *4054
30. 30/12/93 (Thursday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- Sporadic shelling was reported in
the
city. *4055
Source(s): Reuters; UNPROFOR.
- Targets Hit :
- Not specified
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- UNPROFOR reported that snipers were active in
the city. Tanjug reported that one person was killed and another
wounded by BiH
snipers. *4056 A 31 year-old French unidentified UNPROFOR
soldier, was hit by sniper fire on the road from Sarajevo to
Pale. He was driving a tanker truck back to Pale after delivering
fuel to Sarajevo in a UNHCR convoy. At approximately 4:30 p.m., a
bullet fired by a sniper from a zone controlled by the BiH
government pierced the truck's windscreen and passed through the
soldier's neck, damaging his spine, an UNPROFOR spokesman said.
He was rushed to the French medical unit in Sarajevo where he
underwent a seven-hour operation. The treating physicians there
said that it was virtually certain that he would be a paraplegic
for life. *4057
Source(s): UNPROFOR; Reuters; Agence France
Presse.
- Casualties :
- Not specified
- Narrative of Events :
-
UNPROFOR spokesman Idesbald van Biesenbroeck reported
that «tension decreased dramatically» in the city, but that
snipers were still active. He stated: «In Sarajevo, it was
relatively quiet in the past 24 hours, but the situation is still
unstable». He added that heavy machine-gun and small arms fire
was reported in the Serb-held suburbs of Grbavica and Vogosca.
*4058
(b) Local reported events
The last buses evacuating persons from the city were
expected to reach their final destinations today. The progress of
the convoys, which finally crossed the front lines around the
city on Tuesday after months of delay, was beset by engine and
fuel problems, but the first 76 evacuees reached Banja Koviljaca
in Serbia on Wednesday. Other refugees stayed overnight in the
Serb-held town of Ljubinje and local officials said that they
were due to cross into Croatia in the morning. The UN said that
another 13 persons, most of them injured, were airlifted into
Finland. More than 1,000 persons had been evacuated from Sarajevo
by bus in the last few days. *4059
Doctors in the city were talking about «Sarajevo
Syndrome», a sort of posttraumatic stress syndrome. The term
«Sarajevo Syndrome» was first used by Dr. Ismet Ceric, director
of the city hospital's neuro-psychiatric clinic. He estimated
that 90 per cent of Sarajevans showed physical signs of stress
and that some 30 per cent were severely affected. *4060
(c) International reported events
In Brussels, Belgian Foreign Minister Willy Claes
called on the European Community to look at strengthening
economic sanctions against Serbia following the breakdown of the
Christmas truce in BiH. *4061
In New York, UN officials said that the organization
was seriously considering appointing an inspector to investigate
abuses among UN peacekeepers in the former Yugoslavia and
elsewhere. The move followed allegations that soldiers from the
Ukraine, France and other nations were involved in drug
smuggling, bootlegging, selling UN supplies, and prostitution.
*4062
31. 31/12/93 (Friday)
(a) Military activity
- Combat and Shelling Activity :
- In a brief respite from the worst
shelling in two months, people crowded the barren markets for
last minute New Year's Eve shopping. Shortly thereafter, shelling
of the city began. *4063
Source(s): Agence France Presse.
- Targets Hit :
- The downtown area (Vase Miskina Street).
Source(s):
Associated Press; United Press International.
- Description of Damage :
- Not specified
- Sniping Activity :
- Not specified
- Casualties :
- At least five persons were killed and 36 others
wounded when shells hit the city centre. *4064
Source(s): Agence
France Presse.
- Narrative of Events :
-
Four adults and a 12 year-old child were killed in New
Years Eve shelling of the downtown area. The shelling injured
another 28 people, Kosevo Hospital reported. The shelling took
place on Vase Miskina street. «It seems that three shells fell,
one after the other», a Kosevo Hospital spokeswoman said. The
city's French hospital reported another 10 persons wounded by
shrapnel in shelling of other parts of the city. *4065
Gunfire and church bells ushered in the New Year. *4066
(b) Local reported events
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