Duša massacre
| Duša massacre | |
|---|---|
| Part of Bosnian War | |
| Location | Duša near Gornji Vakuf, Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Date | 15 January 1993 (Central European Time) |
| Target | Bosniaks |
|
Attack type
|
Mass Killing |
| Deaths | 10 |
| Perpetrators | Croatian Defence Council (HVO) |
The Duša massacre was a massacre of Bosniak women and children committed by Croats in the village of Duša near Gornji Vakuf. It was committed on 15 January 1993. Around ten civilians were killed in an artillery attack.[1] This massacre is also referred to as the "forgotten massacre" as no one was ever convicted. After the massacre, Croat soldiers entered the village and captured the rest of villagers, trasported the men to camps in Prozor, Trnovača and Paloč, and razed the village to the ground.[2]
Background
Gornji Vakuf is a town to the south of the Lašva Valley and of strategic importance at a crossroads en route to Central Bosnia. It is 48 kilometres from Novi Travnik, an important connection between the Lašva Valley and Herzegovina, two territories included in the self-proclaimed Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia during 1992-1995 Bosnian War. It was first attacked by Croat forces on 20 June 1992, along with Novi Travnik but the attack failed.[3]
Gornji Vakuf shelling
On 10 January 1993, just before the outbreak of hostilities in Gornji Vakuf, Croat Defence Council (HVO) commander Luka Šekerija, sent a "Military – Top Secret" request to Colonel Tihomir Blaškić and Dario Kordić, (later convicted by ICTY of war crimes and crimes against humanity i.e. ethnic cleansing) for rounds of mortar shells available at the ammunition factory in Vitez.[4] Fighting then broke out in Gornji Vakuf on 11 January 1993, sparked by a bomb which had been placed by Croats in a Bosniak-owned hotel that had been used as a military headquarters. A general outbreak of fighting followed and there was heavy shelling of the town that night by Croat artillery.[3]
During cease-fire negotiations at the Britbat HQ in Gornji Vakuf, a Colonel Andrić, representing the HVO, demanded the Bosnian forces lay down their arms and accept HVO control of the town, threatening that if they did not agree he would flatten Gornji Vakuf to the ground.[3][5]
These HVO demands were not accepted by the Bosnian Army and the attack continued, followed by massacres on Bosnian Muslim civilians in the neighbouring villages of Bistrica, Uzričje, Duša, Ždrimci and Hrasnica.[6][7]
See also
References
- ↑ Tribunal (MKSJ), Bezdušan napad na selo Dušu, HAG/DEN HAAG, 19.06.2006
- ↑ Forgotten massacre, gornjivakuf19921994.blogger.ba; accessed 23 November 2015.
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