27 YEARS SINCE THE KILLING OF THREE-YEAR-OLD MILICA RAKIĆ

BELGRADE, APRIL 17 /SRNA/ – It has been 27 years since three-year-old Milica Rakić was killed in her family home in Batajnica, becoming a symbol of the suffering of all children during the NATO aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

The little girl was killed on April 17, 1999, by fragments of a cluster bomb while she was on the second floor of her house, located about one kilometer from the former Batajnica airport. Her father, Žarko, originally from Bosanski Petrovac, testified that the scene of the impact was horrific and that the bathroom from which he carried in his arms his daughter covered in blood was full of shrapnel. Five more civilians were wounded in that attack. An initiative was previously submitted to the Serbian Orthodox Church /SOC/ for the canonization of little Milica Rakić. Her image is already depicted in frescoes in many Serb religious sites, including the Tvrdoš Monastery near Trebinje, the church of the Tresije Monastery on Kosmaj, and the Monastery of the Presentation of the Most Holy Theotokos in Belgrade. A memorial dedicated to children killed during the NATO bombing was erected in 2000 in Tašmajdan Park in Belgrade. On the marble block, topped with a bronze statue of Milica Rakić, the message "We were only children" is inscribed in Serbian and English. According to official data, 79 children were killed during the bombing of the FR Yugoslavia, although it is believed that at least 130 lost their lives. The youngest victim, Bojana Tošović, was an 11-month-old baby when she was killed. The NATO aggression against the FR Yugoslavia began on March 24, 1999. During the 78 days of bombing, 2,500 people were killed, including at least 79 children, while the use of prohibited munitions with depleted uranium caused serious health consequences for the population, and the entire country suffered extensive destruction.