MEMORIAL SERVICE HELD FOR VICTIMS OF NATO BOMBING OF THE KRALJICA TOWER

PETROVO, SEPTEMBER 8 /SRNA/ – A memorial service was held today at the Kraljica peak on Mount Ozren, marking 31 years since NATO aircraft destroyed a telecommunications tower and killed five members of the signal corps of the Republika Srpska Army.

The memorial service was conducted by clergy from Petrovo, after which wreaths were laid and candles lit at the memorial plaque.

Wreaths were laid, along with family members of the fallen soldiers, by Dušan Gašić, the envoy of the Minister of Labour, War Veterans and Disabled Persons Protection of Republika Srpska; Republika Srpska National Assembly member Zoran Blagojević; and Petrovo Municipal Assembly Speaker Igor Cvijanović.

Cvijanović said that the memory of this event must be passed on to future generations so that the truth is kept from oblivion.

"We must especially preserve the memory of the victims among our soldiers who wove their lives into the foundations of Republika Srpska," Cvijanović stated.

Wreaths were also laid by representatives of war veterans organisations and organisations nurturing the traditions of the Defensive-Patriotic War.

On September 7, 1995, Slobodan Milotić from Kaluđerica, Mirko Trivunović from Osinja, Dragan Savanović from Doboj, Sveto Kaišarević from Kožuhe and Željko Lukić from Čečava near Teslić were killed.

The first NATO bomber attack on the Kraljica tower took place on August 29, 1995. Six missiles were fired, none of which hit the tower.

In a repeated criminal attack on September 7, 1995, the facility was hit by three missiles and completely destroyed.