MURDER OF SERB GIRLS PRAISED AS MAJOR SABOTAGE OPERATION

DOBOJ, JUNE 13 /SRNA/ – The ambush killing of Stojanka Lukić /aged 21/ and Slavica Mrkaljević /aged 21/ on June 11, 1992, on the road to Vozuća was praised as the first major sabotage operation of the so-called Zavidovići New Territorial Defence, which killed four civilians; however, the crime will not be forgotten, as those responsible are known.

Stojanka and Slavica were killed while returning by vehicle from the funeral of a relative in Gostović. Although 34 years have passed since the crime, no one has been held accountable, despite the fact that the perpetrators are known. The ambush and killings were described in the 2007 book Darkness and Light of Gostović by Safet Đelo of Kakanj, an officer of the so-called Army of BiH who commanded the unit that carried out the attack. Journalist Ninko Đurić, a former member of the information command of the Vozuća Brigade who documented the event, told SRNA that the incident was praised in Zavidovići as the first major sabotage operation of the so-called Zavidovići New Territorial Defence. “It was praised Ffr a long time and publicly in Zavidovići, as the first major sabotage operation, which, as was reported by the local radio station, eliminated ‘a high-ranking Chetnik officer was eliminated along with several soldiers’,” Đurić recalled, stressing that the perpetrators knew they had killed civilians. Đurić rejected claims that the victims were a military target, as portrayed by the opposing side, and said that both the perpetrators and their commanders knew this, yet no one has been brought to justice. Reconstructing the events, Đurić said that on June 11, 1992, near the former tourist settlement of Kamenica, four civilians, including two young women, were killed in a sabotage operation by the so-called Zavidovići New Territorial Defence. “In an ambush on the gravel road between Kamenica and Vozuća, Muslim saboteurs opened fire on a van, killing driver Mihajlo Janković /aged 40/ and Miladin Jovanović /aged 46/, who was responsible for procuring humanitarian aid. In a passenger vehicle, they killed Slavica Mrkaljević /aged 21/ and Stojanka Lukić /ahed 21/,” Đurić said. He stressed that the attack occurred far from any combat zone and that the victims were riddled with dozens of bullets and died immediately. “Although they essentially obscured the truth, i.e. the fact that civilians were killed, the Muslims confirmed and mentioned this sabotage operation not only on Radio Zavidovići but also in Safet Đelo’s book Darkness and Light of Gostović, published in May 2007 by the publishing house Planjax,” Đurić said. He added that Đelo was a direct participant in the events, serving at the time as commander of the unit that carried out the attack. This is also stated in the author's biography in the book, which lists his positions, including commander of the Gostović River Basin, commander of the Upper Gostović Detachment, chief of staff of the 318th Mountain Brigade, chief of staff of the 320th Mountain Brigade, operations officer in the command of the 35th Division, and commander of the Zavidovići Municipal Command. Đurić said that four pages of the book, along with three photographs and captions, are devoted to the operation under the title Organisation of the Sabotage Group and the Sabotage Operation in Stara Kamenica. He further stated that there is a written report in which Salko Bistrić of Lijevče allegedly boasted of leading the operation. The report was submitted on June 15, 1992, to Sead Starčević, commander of the Municipal Defence Staff of the Zavidovići New Territorial Defence. According to Đurić, the document states that, in addition to Bistrić /aged 56/, nine other individuals took part in the operation, including one of his two sons, who was reportedly given the privilege of firing the first shot because of his marksmanship. Đurić said that this crime is only one in a series of unpunished crimes committed against Serb civilians during the war. Speaking about the death of Koviljka Pašalić /aged 57/, who was killed by a sabotage unit of the so-called Army of BiH in her home near the Holy Trinity Monastery in Vozuća in late May 1993, Zoran Blagojević, president of the Doboj-based Zvidovići People Homeland Association, told SRNA about the case. Blagojević, a former chief of staff of the Fourth Ozren Light Infantry Brigade of the Republika Srpska Army, said that Koviljka was slaughtered on her couch during the night between May 28 and 29, 1993, when the beasts of the so-called Army of BiH ripped out the unfortunate woman's larynx and carried it off as a trophy. He noted that Koviljka was not the only victim that month. He recalled that the same sabotage unit also killed Ranka Pavlović /aged 66/ in the hamlet of Jelčići that evening while she was preparing dinner.