ĆOSIĆ: JUNE 4 REMAINS ONE OF THE MOST TRAGIC DATES FOR SARAJEVO-ROMANIJA REGION

HAN PIJESAK, JUNE 4 /SRNA/ - Istočno Sarajevo Mayor Ljubiša Ćosić said that June 4 remains one of the most difficult days in the recent history of Pale and the Sarajevo-Romanija region, when 45 Serb fighters were killed in an ambush in Žepa.

Ćosić said the men were treacherously killed in an ambush while transporting food and other necessities to soldiers stationed at Zlovrh.

"The Muslim forces failed to honor the agreement that guaranteed the convoy safe passage and acted in the way they know best - treacherously, killing innocent people in an ambush," Ćosić told reporters after the commemoration ceremony marking the crime.

Pale Mayor Dejan Kojić also described June 4 as one of the saddest dates in the history of the municipality, noting that 42 residents of Pale were killed that day and that nearly every family was directly or indirectly affected by the tragedy.

"They were on their way to deliver food to soldiers stationed at Zlovrh. My only regret is that there were not more children here today, because this is something the Serb people, and especially Pale, must never forget," Kojić said.

A ceremony was held today in Luke, Žepa, near Han Pijesak, marking 34 years since the deaths of 45 members of the Republika Srpska Army, who were killed in an ambush set by Muslim forces while transporting food and water to soldiers positioned near Zlovrh.

On June 4, 1992, a convoy of the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps of the Army of Republika Srpska was treacherously attacked while moving toward Mount Zlovrh on a mission to deliver food and water to 13 soldiers guarding a radio-relay facility at the site.

An agreement had been reached with the Muslim forces allowing the Serb soldiers safe passage. However, the Muslim side violated the agreement and attacked the Serb troops from behind in an ambush.

Members of the so-called Army of BiH locked 12 captured Serb soldiers in a nearby barn and burned them alive.

This was one of the largest single losses suffered by members of the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps of the Republika Srpska Army during the Homeland-Defense War.