COMMEMORATION FOR VICTIMS OF NATO BOMBING OF KRALJICA TOWER BEGINS

PETROVO, SEPTEMBER 7 /SRNA/ – A commemoration was held today on Mount Ozren’s peak, Kraljica, marking the 30th anniversary of the NATO airstrike that destroyed a telecommunications tower and killed five communication officers of the Army of Republika Srpska.

On this day in 1995, the following soldiers were killed; Slobodan Milotić from Kaluđerica, Mirko Trivunović from Osinja, Dragan Savanović from Doboj, Sveto Kaišarević from Kožuh and Željko Lukić from Čečava near Teslić.

Following a memorial service held by clergy from Petrovo, wreaths will be laid at the memorial plaque.

The commemoration is attended by families of the fallen soldiers, representatives of the Republika Srpska War Veterans Organisation, war veterans associations from Petrovo, Doboj, Brod, and Teslić, the officials tof he Municipality of Petrovo and the Doboj Police Administration.

Milica Trivunović, mother of the late Mirko, says she will continue to visit the site of her son’s death for as long as she lives, expressing her bitterness that justice has not been served, and that even 30 years later, those responsible remain unpunished.

The first NATO airstrike on the Kraljica tower took place on August 29, 1995, when six missiles were launched, none of which hit the target. In a second, deadly attack on September 7, the facility was hit by three missiles and was completely destroyed.

According to witness Mirko Aleksić, the NATO attack on the tower occurred at approximately 5:20 PM.

At the time of the attack, six soldiers were inside the building. One survived, along with three others who were outside the facility, including Aleksić himself.

Dušan Dujković, the head of the Petrovo Municipal War Veterans Organisation, stated that the memory of this event must be preserved and passed down to future generations, to safeguard the truth from being forgotten or subjected to historical revisionism.

The destruction of the telecommunications tower on Kraljica peak by NATO aircraft was a precondition for the launch of the Muslim offensive on Vozuća and the entire Ozren area, which began three days later, culminating in the final phase of the expulsion and ethnic cleansing of Serbs from the Zenica region, which had started back in 1992.