Shell Slams Into Bosnia Refugee Camp Nato Says Only Bad Weather Blocked Retaliatory Airstrike On Serbs
A shell blamed on Serb rebels slammed into a government-run refugee camp Sunday, killing at least six people as both sides battled for precious land and better negotiating positions ahead of a cease-fire.
NATO deployed warplanes but did not strike at Serb targets. Maj. Myriam Sochacki, a U.N. spokeswoman, said bad weather that moved in later in the day made identifying Serb targets difficult and led to the decision to have the aircraft return to base.
U.N. spokesman Jim Lansdale said between six and 10 people were killed by the shell, which exploded at a refugee center in Zivinice, south of Tuzla. Bosnian television said nine were killed and 50 wounded, 25 seriously.
Bosnian army headquarters in Tuzla said most of the dead were children. A local doctor, Duska Bericevic, told state-run radio that “the beautiful day probably drew them out.”
The United Nations did not say who was behind the attack, but state radio blamed the Serbs. The radio said a shell containing several explosives detonated above the refugee center, which houses mostly Muslims driven from Serb-held areas. The U.N. confirmed it was a shell containing multiple explosives.
Two other cluster bombs hit nearby Banovici and wounded three people, two of them children, radio reports said.
The attacks came as Bosnian government forces made gains against Serbs in the north and launched a counteroffensive in the northwest. Both sides are trying to grab as much territory as possible before a U.S.-sponsored cease-fire freezes front lines. The truce, a prelude to a peace conference, is scheduled to take effect 12:01 a.m. Tuesday (7 p.m. EDT today).
The Serbs warned that the truce was being threatened by Croatian involvement in Bosnia. They had been making headway in the northwest until the Croatian army returned to help government troops.
“The reinforcement … jeopardizes directly the signed cease-fire,” said a Serb statement carried by Yugoslavia’s Tanjug news agency. It said Serb forces “will do everything to stop the aggression” should Croatian involvement continue.
Bosnian state radio suggested the refugee camp shelling was Serb retaliation for government army gains near Doboj, northwest of Tuzla. The radio, quoting army headquarters, said government forces continued advances there Sunday.
Sochacki, the U.N. spokeswoman, said NATO “attempted to neutralize the heavy weapons firing on Tuzla,” but could not because of bad visibility. She added that the firing stopped after the Serbs were warned “that such actions will result in NATO airstrikes.”
Croatia’s HINA news agency quoted Bosnian Croat units as claiming some Serb warplanes dropped cluster bombs on some of their units in northern Bosnia. There was no confirmation.
The Bosnian army was also on the move in the area of Bosanska Krupa, about 50 miles west of the Serb stronghold of Banja Luka in the northwest, Sochacki said. Banja Luka, however, is considered unconquerable.