SREBRENICA MUSLIM VILLAGES BOMBED

Manila Standard, p.17
16 March 1993.

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Three planes have bombed Muslim-held villages in eastern Bosnia in the first aerial bombing in the UN-imposed “no fly zone,” according to the United Nations.

Three single-engine propeller planes each dropped three bombs on hamlets Saturday about five miles (eight kilometers) southeast of Srebrenica, UN spokeswoman Shannon Boyd said in a report issued Tuesday in Zagreb, Croatia.

She did not identify the planes’ origin, but said all three flew to Serb-dominated Yugoslavia after dropping the bombs. The report did not say how much damage was caused.

Also Tuesday, Bosnian Serb leaders played with the hopes of the hungry in eastern Bosnia Tuesday, first pledging to allow aid in, then later imposing conditions.

And as leaders of the warring factions prepared to resume peace talks in New York, Serb forces besieging Sarajevo subjected the Bosnian capital to its heaviest artillery pounding in weeks.

Ham radio operators in eastern Srebrenica reported four of five more villages in eastern Bosnia fell to Serb forces sweeping southward on a two-week offensive.

Tens of thousands of refugees from the Serb advance are crowded into Srebrenica, many living on the streets in sub-zero temperatures without adequate clothing. Relief officials say many haven’t eaten in days.

They have pinned their hopes to an aid convoy, halted since Thursday by Serb forces at the Yugoslav-Bosnian border.

The convoy for Srebrenica and three others destined for eastern Gorazde, north central Tuzla and Sarajevo, were stuck on the Yugoslav side of the border.