SERBS BURIED AFTER 1993 KRAVICA CHRISTMAS MASSACRE

BIJELJINA, MARCH 21 /SRNA/ - Thirty-nine Serbs from the village of Kravica, who were killed by Muslim units on Orthodox Christmas, were buried in Bratunac on March 22, 1993.

Muslim forces under the command of Naser Orić entered Kravica on Christmas Day in 1993, killing 49 Serbs, wounding 80 civilians and soldiers, while seven were reported missing, five of whom have still not been found. Among the missing are two women.

On Christmas Day, the village was looted, while 688 Serb houses were burned in the wider Kravica area. Around 2,000 auxiliary buildings and 27 public facilities were destroyed.

About 1,000 residents were left without homes in a single day and, making their way through snowdrifts, fled toward the Drina River and into Serbia, escaping certain death. A total of 101 children were left without one or both parents.

In addition to representatives of the Government and National Assembly of Republika Srpska, the funeral was attended by the commander of peacekeeping forces, French General Philippe Morillon.

From the beginning of the war until mid-1995, Muslim forces from Srebrenica repeatedly raided Serb villages around the area, as well as Bratunac, Milići, Skelani, and Zvornik, killing indiscriminately.

They looted and burned Serb property, while captured individuals were tortured, mutilated, beheaded, and their heads displayed in Srebrenica. A case was also recorded in which a local resident, Nenad Rankić, was reportedly roasted on a spit.

This practice did not cease even after Srebrenica was declared a UN safe area in April 1993.

Of around fifty Serbs who remained in Srebrenica at the beginning of the war loyal to the Muslim authorities, only one elderly woman survived, while another, Ivanka Mirković, was found killed on her doorstep in July 1995.

Units under Naser Orić, at the very start of the war, expelled and killed the Serb population from Srebrenica and nearby villages, including Dugo Polje, Pećišta, Kovačice, Gostilj, Gniona, Osredak, Viogor, and Studenac.