Who NATO Killed
Since the Nato airstrikes began on March 24
Serb officials say more than 2,000 civilians have been killed
and more than 7,500 wounded. Nato has owned up to bombing raids
and missile attacks that have killed 460 civilians, according
to a tally by Agence France-Presse. By all accounts, the bombing
was indiscriminate, killing farmers, suburbanites, city dwellers,
factory workers, reporters, diplomats, people in cars, busses
and trains, hospital patients, the elderly and children. Indeed,
by our count, Nato bombing raids have killed more than 200 children.
Hundreds more will almost certainly perish in the coming months,
through environmental factors, such as poisoned water
supplies and lack of electrical power to run vital hospital equipment.
The following list of civilian casualties is far from comprehensive.
We compiled it from daily reports by the Yugoslav Foreign Ministry
and wire services, including Agence France Presse, Reuters and
AP.
Aleksinac
Five Nato missiles hit Aleksinac, a small mining community, on
April 6. Seventeen civilians, taking shelter in a basement of
a house, were all killed. Although there is no military presence
in the residential area that was bombed, more than 400 homes
were destroyed.
Ariljaca
Nato missiles hit Ariljaca, a small town outside Pristina, on
April 28, killing two and injuring a dozen civilians.
Belgrade
Near midnight on June 1, 14 missiles destroyed a block of houses
in a suburb of Belgrade killing 5 and injuring 20.
Around 1 a.m. on May 20, Nato cluster bombs hit "Dragisa
Misovic" hospital in downtown Belgrade. The neurological
ward, the maternity ward, the gynecological ward and the children's
ward for lung diseases were destroyed. Nato later admitted that
one of the laser guided bombs overshot its target by about 1,500
feet (460 meters).
During the attack 4 women were in active labor. A woman who,
at the time of the attack, was having a Caesarean section, was
also injured. She was transferred to the basement where her baby
was finally delivered! In the attack 4 patients were killed,
and several women in labor were wounded.
On May 8, Nato airstrikes hit the Chinese Embassy, destroying
half of the building. According to the Chinese Government there
were about 30 people in the building at the moment of the attack.
Four Chinese citizens were killed and at least 20 injured.
On Friday, April 23, around 2 a.m., the building
of the Serbian National Broadcasting Network was destroyed by
Nato air strikes. The building is in the very center of Belgrade,
a few hundred feet from a children's theater, St. Marko's Church,
the City Childrens Center and the local market. More than 20
civilian employees of the TV station were killed.
On April 16, Milica Rakic, a three-year-old girl, was killed
in the Nato attack on Batajnica, a residential suburb of Belgrade.
The administrative center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
was hit several times. The building is in the very center of
Belgrade, near the city hospital, which has the largest delivery
ward in Belgrade. Several civilians, who were passing by the
building at the time of the attack, were killed.
On April 13, a cluster bomb hit the Veterans Army Hospital in
downtown Belgrade, injuring sixteen patients.
Bor
Six persons were wounded when Nato hit the electricity relay
station at a mine site in Basin Bor on May 15.
Cacak
On May 5, Nato forces destroyed the Sloboda plant, the largest
factory in Cacak. This factory produced domestic appliances and
employed 5,000 workers. A residential area near the factory was
also destroyed. Two persons were killed, one of them was a 74-year-old
woman. Seven were injured.
Cuprija
On June 1, 2 civilians were killed and 9 wounded when Nato bombs
destroyed more than 100 houses in the center of this small town.
Djakovica
On April 21 70 civilians died and 20 were injured in a refugee
camp near Djakovica, home for more than 500 people evicted from
Krajina (Croatia). The houses were completely destroyed. Just
four years ago, more than 400,000 civilian Serbs were ethnically
cleansed from the Krajina region by the Croatian government of
Franjo Tudjman. There were 53 bomb craters at the site.
On April 19, seven missiles hit the same site, killing five and
wounding 16.
Gnjilane
Nato attacked Gnjilane a number of times in May. There were dozens
of civilian casualties. The City Hospital was hit and badly damaged.
Grdelica
Nato hit an international train, on regular service from Belgrade
to Thessaloniki (Greece), in the vicinity of Leskovac on Monday,
April 12. Sixty passengers were killed, including a 10 year-old
child. More than 30 passengers were wounded. All casualties were
civilians.
Gucevo
On April 23, Nato planes attacked this mountain ski resort, seriously
injuring the manager of the complex.
Istok
On May 21, a prison in Istok was hit with two missiles, killing
one man and seriously injuring one woman. The attack was repeated
at 9:20 a.m. with ten missiles. The econd attack left nine people
dead, including the deputy governor. At least 10 people were
injured. Since then, Nato has bombed this prison several times.
By June 1, the death toll had risen to 100..
Jagodina
On May 25, Nato attacked this agricultural village with five
missiles. One struck a greenhouse killing a farmer and wounding
two workers.
Korisa
On the night of May 13, six Nato missiles struck a farm in the
rural village of Korisa in Kosovo. In this attack, 87 Kosovo
Albanians died. Kosovo Albanian Fehmi Ahmeta told Reuters that
seven members of his family were killed. Journalists who visited
the site described it as full of bodies, some of them still burning
at the time of their visit. One journalist said said there was
no trace of Nato's claim of a Serb military presence.
Kosare
On May 22, Nato was forced to admit that it had mistakenly bombed
a KLA base in the border town of Kosare. KLA spokesmen said that
7 were killed and 15 wounded in the attack.
Kragujevac
Workers employed at the Zastava factory in Kragujevac used their
bodies to "protect" the factory, a fact that was well
known to Nato war planners. 120 workers were injured in an April
10 Nato assault on the factory. The Zastava automobile factory
supported more than 50 percent of the citizens living in the
Kragujevac area.
Kraljevo
On June 1, seven people were injured, three of them children,
when four missiles hit the residential area of Sovljak.
Throughout May, Nato repeatedly targeted the town of Kraljevo,
destroying its school and a hospital clinic. More than 20 civilians
have been injured. A message on one of the bomb casings found
at Kraljevo read, "Do You Still Want to Be a Serb Now?"
On April 29, one person was killed and 8 injured when a missile
struck a public bus on the Goadcica Road.
Krusevac
Nato forces destroyed the "14th October" factory of
construction machinery on April 11. A dozen workers were injured.
The plant, which employed 6,000 workers, was demolished.
Kursumlija
On May 29, cluster bombs hit the Markovici housing complex, killing
one and wounding two.
In two Nato attacks on Kursumlija in early May, 13 citizens were
killed and more than 20 were injured.
On April 12, two missiles struck a residential area killing 6
and injuring 23. Among the dead: 11 month-old Bjonana Tosovic
and her father Boris.
Labane
On June 1, two people were killed and one critically injured
when Nato planes attacked the Cenovacki Bridge over the Jablanica
River.
Lipljan
On April 26, Arla Lujic, a six year-old girl, was killed and
her brother and sister seriously injured by a Nato cluster bomb.
Her father, Sacir Lujic, said, "We were at home in the center
of the village and the children were playing in the yard when
we heard a powerful blast. We didn't know if it was a Nato plane
that fell down or a bomb. Children are not guilty at all."
Luzane
May 1, Nato planes attacked a bridge in Luzane (12 miles from
Pristina), hitting the "Nis Express" bus on its regular
service linking Nis and Pristina. There were about 70 passengers
on the bus. A missile hit the bus directly and split it in two.
One half remained on the bridge burning for an hour, while the
other half plunged into the valley. Bodies were scattered over
a wide area. Forty-seven people were killed.
They attacked again 25 minutes later, when an ambulance vehicle
was damaged and one medical doctor was seriously wounded in the
head. One of the Luzane inhabitants, who eyewitnessed the attack,
said the bus was filled with civilians, mostly old people and
children and that he could hear them crying for help from the
bus wreckage after the attack.
Merdare
Nato planes dropped cluster bombs on the home of the Tosic family,
in the small village of Merdare, located between Kursumlija and
Podujevo. An eleven-month-old baby girl was among the Merdare
victims. Her mother, in the ninth month of pregnancy, was injured.
The father was killed.
Murino
On May 1, the small Montenegrin village of Murino was bombed
with 10 missiles. Orhan Redzepagic, the mayor of the remote
mountain commune of Plav, said that four civilians were killed
including two young girls, refugees from Pristina, who were hit
directly and blown into pieces. The other two dead were a man
and a woman. Eight people suffered injuries.
Nis
On June 1, Dusan Mancic and his wife Vukosava were killed and
their three grandchildren were injured when their house was destroyed
by Nato missiles.
On May 7, 1999, 15 people were killed and 70 injured when cluster
bombs fell on the town market.
On April 19 one civilian was killed and 11 wounded went Nato
missiles destroyed 10 homes in the Bujuriska housing complex.
Novi Sad
Nato attacked an oil refinery in Novi Sad more than 10 times.
A thick cloud of benzene-laden smoke hangs over the city and
water from the public water supply is no longer drinkable.
Several residential areas in the suburbs of Novi Sad were demolished.
As of June 1 there are more than 100 seriously wounded civilians
in Novi Sad.
Novi Pazar
On May 31, six Nato cluster bombs hit a four-storey apartment
complex in the center of town killing 23 and injuring 20.
On April 23, four people were injured when a Nato missile struck
a Red Cross soup kitchen. Later that same day, one person was
killed and two injured when missiles hit the Novi Pazar medical
center, which housed one of Europe's largest treatment facilities
for muscular dystrophy.
Novi Varos
Four workers were seriously wounded on April 18 when two Nato
bombs struck a hydroelectric plant on the Bistrica River.
Pancevo
One May 1, Nato missiles destroyed a chemical plant which produces
fertilizers. Seven workers were injured. The entire residential
quarter near the factory was evacuated because of the danger
of intoxication by poisonous gases released due to the damage
inflicted to the building and the fire that consequently broke
out.
Nato forces have repeadedly hit the power plant in the Pancevo
petroleum refinery complex, which supplied electricity and gas.
The refinery was attacked on several more occasions. A huge amount
of toxic material was spilled into the Danube River, which flows
all the way from Germany to the Black Sea.
An April 3 strike on the plant killed two people and injured
17.
Paracin
On May 12, a dozen houses in Paracin were destroyed, one person
was killed and five injured.
Pristina
On May 30, one person was killed and six wounded when missiles
destroyed their cars at the entrance tunnel outside Pristina.
Five Nato cluster bombs destroyed a largely residential area
of Pristina called Grinija, killing Branko Gudzic, the head of
technical services for the Provincial Executive Council of Kosovo.
Two of his colleagues were seriously wounded.
On April 12, a missile struck a Ford Escort on the Pristina-Polje
Road, killing two and seriously injuring one.
On April 9, Nato destroyed a residential area in downtown Pristina,
killing five members of the Gasi family as they hid in the basement
of their house. Nato admitted it may have hit houses when its
missiles overshot the Pristina telephone exchange.
Prizren-Djakovica
In the early afternoon hours on April 14, 1999, a convoy of Albanian
refugees was bombed four times by Nato planes. The refugees were
moving down Prizren-Djakovica road, mostly on foot, or in tractor
trailers. At least 75 people were killed, 100 wounded. All of
the victims were Albanians, mostly children, women and elderly
people. Since the attack was carried out in daylight, considering
that the convoy consisted mostly of agricultural vehicles and
civilian cars, and that the attack was repeated four times with
long periods of time between them, possibility of this attack
being accidental is very unlikely.
Sabac
On May 25 Nato planes struck this small town with five cluster
bombs, destroying a school and an apartment complex. One person
died and four were wounded in the attack.
Savine Vode
On May 3, , during the Nato attack on Savine Vode a civilian
bus on the Djakovica-Podgorica Road was hit. At least 20 persons
were killed, 43 were injured (23 suffered serious injuries).
There were large numbers of women and children among the victims.
Rescue teams and ambulance cars weren't able to help the victims
due to the prolonged attack.
Sremska Mitrovica
On June 1, 200 homes were obliterated by four cluster bombs,
killing five civilians and hurting more than a dozen.
On May 2 Nato bombs destroyed residential areas in the town of
Sremska Mitrovica killing four and injuring 10.
Subotica
On Friday, April 16, Nato planes attacked the city of Subotica
for the first time. Subotica lies on the border with Hungary,
over 350 miles from Kosovo. About 70 percent of Subotica's population
are Hungarian. A entire block in the residential quarter of the
city was demolished by Nato planes. All destroyed buildings were
civilian. Two died in the attack and 15 were wounded.
Surdulica
On May 30, 20 patients in a sanitarium and retirement home complex
where killed when the buildings were destroyed by five Nato missiles.
Two Nato missiles hit civilian structures in the center of Surdulica
on April 27 between 12 and 12:30 p.m. A CNN reporter counted
16 civilian bodies at the scene;11 of the victims were children
between 5 and 12 years of age. Three days after the attack bodies
were still being taken out of the smoldering ruins.
Trstenik
On April 29, Nato missiles attacked a bridge in Trstenik, killing
a woman who was crossing the bridge on her bike and wounding
17 others.
Urosevac
A residential suburb of Urosevac was demolished in a Nato attack.
Six people were killed.
Uzice
On May 30, missiles struck near the post office in downtown
Uzice for the fifth time, killing two civilians.
Vajevo
The June 1 airstrike on Vajevo marked the thirty-first time Nato
planes had attacked this manufacturing center. A dozen fatalities
have resulted from the more than 200 missiles that have hit the
city and the outlaying Krusik factory.
On May 6, several buildings in the densely populated residential
area of Valjevo were damaged in a Nato strike. Among them are:
the City Hospital, an agriculture secondary school, a railway
station and several apartment buildings. Ten people were wounded
in the strike.
Varvarin
Nato planes took out a bridge in this central Serbian city, killing
11 people who were crossing in their cars when the missiles hit.
Vranje
On June 1, ten civilians were seriouly wounded when four bombs
exploded in the historical district of this town.
On May 15, a residential suburb was badly damaged as a result
of Nato attacks. Two people were killed while working in the
field near the town. Irena, a 16-year-old girl, died from a skull
fracture caused by shrapnel from a Nato missile. Her father was
seriously injured. An older woman died in the assault as well.
On April 13, two people were killed, including 14 year-old Milica
Stojanovic, and one person was critically wounded when missiles
hit a residential suburb of Vranje called Pavjovac.
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