Civilian casualties during Operation Allied Force
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Many human rights groups criticised civilian casualties resulting from military actions of
From the beginning of Operation Allied Force, NATO pledged to minimise civilian casualties. Consideration of civilian casualties was incorporated into NATO's planning and targeting process. Targets were "looked at in terms of their military significance in relation to the collateral damage or the
Incidents
March 30, 1999: Bombing of Čačak
On March 30, 1999, during a two-day air raid on the
April 1–2, 1999: Airstrikes in Novi Sad, Orahovac
On April 1, 1999 at 5:05 am local time, the
April 4–6, 1999: Bombings in Belgrade, Pančevo, Aleksinac, and Vranje
On April 4, 1999, three workers were killed when the oil refinery in Pančevo was hit by NATO airstrikes.
On April 5, 1999, a neighborhood in Vranje was bombed, killing two civilians and injuring 15.[11] On the night of April 5–6, 1999, 12 civilians were killed in the southern mining town of Aleksinac after it was struck by NATO forces.[12] A total of 35 homes and 125 apartment units were destroyed, with no obvious military target in the vicinity according to the Serbian newspaper Politika.[12]
April 12, 1999: Bombing in southern Serbia
On April 12, 1999, NATO airstrikes struck a railway bridge in
In a separate bombing on the same day, six civilians were killed in Merdare from NATO airstrikes on the border of Kuršumlija and Podujevo.[11]
April 14, 1999: First bombing of a refugee column
On April 14, during daylight hours, NATO aircraft repeatedly bombed Albanian refugee movements over a twelve-mile (19 km) stretch of road between
April 21, 1999: Second bombing of refugee camp
On April 21, 1999, a Serbian refugee camp in Majino Naselje of Gjakova was struck by heavy airstrikes.[18] The Los Angeles Times reported that four civilians were killed,[18] however a Belgrade-based bulletin listed the names of five individuals who were killed in the attack.[19] NATO spokesman Mike Phillips denied that NATO was responsible for the bombing of Majino Naselje.[18]
April 23, 1999: Radio Television Serbia (RTS) headquarters bombing
One of the largest incidents of civilian deaths, and certainly the largest in Belgrade, was the bombing of state TV headquarters in Belgrade on April 23. As a consequence, sixteen RTS civilian technicians and workers were killed and sixteen were wounded. [20]
April 27, 1999: First bombing of Surdulica
On April 27, 1999, NATO missiles struck several houses in the southern town of Surdulica. A CNN journalist named Alessio Vinci subsequently visited the local morgue, where he reported 16 civilians killed as a result of the attack.[21] One of Serbia's public broadcasters, RTS, reported that 20 civilians were killed in Surdulica on April 27, 1999.[22] Many of the victims had been killed in a single house on Zmaj Jova street,1 owned by Vojislav Milić.[23] Milić's family and several neighbors took refuge in Milić's basement when his house was struck by two bombs, after which nine people were killed in his house alone.[23]
April 29–May 1, 1999: Bombings in Montenegro and Kosovo
On April 29, 1999, one woman was killed and three more people were injured from shrapnel during the bombing of Tuzi.[24] On April 30, 1999, NATO bombs struck Murino, a village located near Plav, killing six civilians of whom three were under the age of 16.[25]
On May 1, 1999, a Niš-Ekspres bus taking passengers to Kosovo was hit by NATO missiles when it crossed a bridge in the village of Lužane near Podujevo.2 The number of casualties reported from the Niš-Ekspres bombing vary, with Human Rights Watch recording 39 civilians killed[15] whereas the Minister of Health Leposava Milićević reported that 47 civilians killed in the bus bombing had been identified.[15][26]
In a separate attack, also on May 1, 1999, at least 12 civilians were killed when a Romani neighborhood in Prizren was struck by NATO bombs.[27]
May 4, 1999: Bus bombing in Savine Vode
On May 4, 1999, a bus was destroyed in the village of Savine Vode near
May 7, 1999
Cluster bombing of Niš
On May 7, 1999,
Chinese embassy bombing
A salvo of US
May 14, 1999: Bombing of Koriša
Starting before midnight and lasting into the morning hours of May 14, 1999, NATO planes bombed the village of Koriša in Kosovo, where Albanian peasants were seeking refuge in a convoy.[32] Sources vary between 77[33] and 87 killed.[32][34] Survivors of the attack claimed that they had been set up by the Yugoslav police, who led them to the supply depot which was bombed that night.[34][35] The Yugoslav police had led the refugees to the depot promising them refuge and passage to Albania, although the survivors claimed that the police asked for money and made threats before escorting them.[34] After the bombing of Koriša, Yugoslav troops took TV crews to the scene shortly after the bombing.[36] The Yugoslav government insisted that NATO had targeted civilians.[37]
May 19–21, 1999: Bombings in Dedinje, Gnjilane, and the Dubrava prison massacre
Gnjilane
At approximately 10:20 am local time on May 19, 1999, a small industrial area in
Dragiša Mišović hospital bombing
At approximately 12:50 am local time on May 19, 1999, the
Dubrava prison massacre
Starting on May 19, 1999, NATO forces bombed the town of
May 29–31, 1999: Morava region, Novi Pazar, and road bombings
On May 29, 1999, the Prizren-Brezovica road was subject to NATO airstrikes. A chauffeur was killed driving in a convoy of journalists, and three more were injured.[15] At 1:05 pm local time on the following day, 1999, 10 civilians were killed when NATO bombers mounted a daylight raid on a bridge over the Great Morava river in Varvarin.[44] The streets and bridge had more people than usual as Trinity Sunday was observed that day.[45] NATO spokesman Jamie Shea said the alliance had bombed a "legitimate designated military target".[46]
Surdulica was bombed for the second time on the night of May 30–31, 1999, when NATO airstrikes destroyed a sanatorium and a retirement home.[47] Human Rights Watch published the names of the 23 civilians killed in the sanatorium.[15]
On May 31, 1999, a residential building was struck by a NATO bomb in Novi Pazar, killing 11 civilians.[48] On the same day, Human Rights Watch recorded that airstrikes killed three civilians in three separated incidents throughout central and southern Serbia; in Vranje, on the "Raška bridge", and in Draževac.[15]
Human Rights Watch analysis
Human Rights Watch documented and evaluated the impact and effects of the NATO military operation, and confirmed 90 incidents in which civilians died as a result of NATO bombing. These included attacks where cluster bombs were dropped.[49] In 1999, it was estimated that 488–527 Yugoslav civilians died as a result of NATO bombing.[50] The report also criticized Pentagon and NATO officials for a lack of attention to the issue of civilian deaths, suggesting "a resistance to acknowledging the actual civilian effects and an indifference to evaluating their causes."[51]
NATO strategy and claims
From the very beginning of Operation Allied Force, minimizing civilian casualties was a major declared NATO concern. According to NATO, consideration of civilian casualties was fully incorporated into the planning and targeting process. All targets were "looked at in terms of their military significance in relation to the collateral damage or the
See also
- Casualty recording
- Humanitarian Law Centre
- Civilian casualties during the NATO intervention in Libya
Notes
- ^1 Zmaj Jova street is named after Jovan Jovanović Zmaj. Serbian variations of nouns are such that the street is spelled as "Zmaj Jove" (as opposed to having an "a" letter at the end) in the context of the sentence in the OK Radio article on the Milić family from Surdulica.[23]
- ^2 There are multiple villages in the former Yugoslavia named Lužane. The Lužane bus bombing took place in a village called Lužane by Podujevo in Kosovo. However, there is another village also called Lužane located near Aleksinac, although that is not where the Niš-Ekspres bus was bombed.[53]
References
- ^ "Civilian Deaths in the NATO Air Campaign - The Crisis in Kosovo". Archived from the original on November 21, 2016. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-521-80071-6. Retrieved April 19, 2009.
- ^ "Civilian Deaths in the NATO Air Campaign - The Crisis in Kosovo". Archived from the original on November 21, 2016. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
- ^ Norton-Taylor, Richard (March 9, 2000). "How the Serb army escaped Nato". The Guardian.
- ^ a b Goran Davidović (March 24, 2018). "Sećanje: Hronologija bombardovanja Čačka 1999. godine". Morava Info (in Serbian). Archived from the original on February 20, 2019. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
- ^ Milan Laketić (March 24, 2015). "Država nije pomogla deci žrtava NATO bombardovanja". Blic (in Serbian). Retrieved July 15, 2017.
- ^ "NATO Crimes in Serbia (Yugoslavia)". May 1999. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
- ^ "Pomen radnicima rafinerije". B92 (in Serbian). April 4, 2010. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
- RTS. March 24, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
- ^ Ljiljana Staletović (November 11, 2001). "Brane se malim brojem poginulih" (in Serbian). Glas javnosti. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
- ^ a b Dragan Ilić (March 24, 2017). Да се не заборави: 18 година од НАТО бомбардовања. Слово Југа (Slovo Juga) (in Serbian). Retrieved July 15, 2017.
- ^ a b Toma Todorović (April 6, 2008). Алексинац не заборавља жртве (in Serbian). Politika. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
- ^ "Grdelica: Obeleženo 15 godina od raketiranja putničkog voza". Večernje novosti (in Serbian). April 12, 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
- ^ [1] Vesti-online: Nepoznat broj žrtava zločina u Grdelici. (in Serbian) April 13, 2015. Accessed July 17, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Kosovo: Civilian Deaths in the NATO Air Campaign". Human Rights Watch. February 1, 2000. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
- ^ "A long litany of NATO mistakes hits a new low". The Irish Times. May 10, 1999. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
- ^ "Na Grdeličkom mostu obeleženo osamnaest godina od NATO bombardovanja međunarodnog putničkog voza". Serbian Railways (in Serbian). April 12, 2017. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
- ^ a b c Paul Watson (April 22, 1999). "Refugee Serbs Blame NATO in Camp Bombing". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
- ^ Savo Štrbac (April 2000). "Veritas: Bilten #11" (PDF) (in Serbian). Retrieved July 16, 2017.
- ^ HighBeam[dead link]
- ^ "Children reported killed when NATO bomb missed target". CNN. CNN. April 28, 1999. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
- RTS. April 27, 2009. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
- ^ a b c Dušan Đorđević (March 24, 2014). "Bombardovanje odnelo šestoro Milića". OK Radio (in Serbian). Retrieved July 16, 2017.
- ^ "Gađani mostovi i civili" (in Serbian). Glas javnosti. April 30, 1999. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
- ^ Amil Ibrahimagić (30 April 2012). "U Murini obilježeno 13 godina od NATO bombardovanja" (in Serbian). Vijesti. Archived from the original (via Wayback Machine) on 30 October 2015.
- ^ "Kosovo: SERVIS, NEDELJA, 2.5.99., 13h. CAN" (in Serbian). Nezavisne Novine. May 2, 1999. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
- ^ Lukáš Houdek (translated into English by Gwendolyn Albert) (June 16, 2011). "Prizren in the shadow of aircraft". Retrieved June 20, 2017.
- ^ a b Paul Watson (May 4, 1999). "NATO Bombs Kill 17 More Civilians". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
- ^ Helen Kinghan (May 4, 1999). "Bus deaths claim disputed by NATO". The Irish Times. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
- ^ M. Vučić (May 7, 2016). "Krenuli na pijacu, pa poginuli od kasetnih bombi". Južne vesti (in Serbian). Retrieved June 13, 2017.
- ^ D. Stojanović (May 7, 2015). "Suze za 16 žrtava kasetnih bombi". Večernje novosti (in Serbian). Retrieved August 10, 2017.
- ^ a b "U napadu NATO na kolonu kosovskih Albanaca kod sela Koriša 14. maja 1999. ubijeno 87 civila". Nova srpska politička misao (in Serbian). May 14, 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
- ^ Predrag Azdejković (March 24, 2012). "Ljudski gubici tokom NATO bombardovanja SRJ" (in Serbian). Retrieved July 16, 2017.
- ^ a b c Will Englund (June 20, 1999). "Refugees call Korisa a setup". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
- ISBN 9780521800716.
- ^ "NATO says target was military post". Sunday Free Lance-Star. May 16, 1999.
- ^ "Once Again, NATO Admits Accidental Bombing Of Civilians". Chicago Tribune. May 16, 1999. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
- ^ a b c "NATO avijacija u 58. noći napada na SR Jugoslaviju dejstvovala po Beogradu i južnoj Srbiji" (in Serbian). Glas javnosti. May 20, 1999. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
- ^ a b Steven Pearlstein (May 21, 1999). "NATO Bomb Said to Hit Belgrade Hospital". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
- ^ RTS. May 20, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
- ^ "NATO bomb hits hospital". BBC News. May 20, 1999.
- ^ Miloš Vasić (April 28, 2011). "Pokolj u zatvoru Dubrava". Vreme (in Serbian). Retrieved August 4, 2017.
- ^ Milica Jovanović (December 31, 2013). "Dubrava (1) – Rat u zatvoru". Peščanik (in Serbian). Retrieved August 4, 2017.
- ^ Rade Stanković (March 24, 2016). "Zločin u Varvarinu neće biti zaboravljen". Politika (in Serbian). Retrieved July 15, 2017.
- ^ Vladimir Minić, Nemanja Rujević (March 24, 2014). "Collateral damage? Nato airstrikes remembered in Varvarin". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
- ^ a b "Civilian deaths 'necessary price'". BBC News. May 31, 1999.
- ^ "NATO 'hit old people's home'". BBC News. May 31, 1999.
- ^ "Obeležen dan pogibije 11 civila u Novom Pazaru u NATO bombardovanju". Blic (in Serbian). May 31, 2014. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
- ^ "Civilian Deaths in the NATO Air Campaign - The Crisis in Kosovo". Archived from the original on November 21, 2016. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
- ^ Trbovich 2008, p. 349.
- ^ Graham, Bradley (February 7, 2000). "Report Says NATO Bombing Killed 500 Civilians in Yugoslavia". The Washington Post.
- ^ "Civilian Deaths in the NATO Air Campaign - The Crisis in Kosovo". Archived from the original on November 21, 2016. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
- ^ [2] RTS: Sećanje na žrtve bombardovanja. (in Serbian) March 24, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
Sources
- Trbovich, Ana S. (2008). A Legal Geography of Yugoslavia's Disintegration. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533343-5.