OVERVIEW OF CIVILIAN DESTRUCTION (27-28)


FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
FEDERAL MINISTRY FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
DIRECTORATE FOR INFORMATION
 

S P E C I A L     I S S U E
 

OVERVIEW
OF CIVILIAN DESTRUCTION IN THE TERRITORY OF THE FR OF YUGOSLAVIA
AS A CONSEQUENCE OF BARBARIC AND CRIMINAL NATO AGGRESSION (27-28 APRIL 1999)

Yesterday way the Constitution Day of the FR of Yugoslavia - its  seventh
anniversary. Since the early morning hours until this morning criminal NATO
machinery in blood and new destruction made its contribution to this
anniversary. According to the tragic consequences, NATO planners have
decided to take Surdulica and its population as a symbol of their
destructive attitude towards our country.
The lists of the dead, wounded and missing civilians, as well as the lists
of destroyed and material assets that cannot be used are expanding by the
day.
NATO "phases" of criminal and bestial aggression have already been mixed
up since the planners of death and destruction almost feel no need at all
to explain whether these are "legitimate" goals or "collateral damage". As
for the consequences, they consider that they will be discussed "when the
time comes" and that those who would be forced to do so,  will consider
them.
 
B E L G R A D E

Some time after 1.00 a.m. aircraft of enemy NATO alliance last night
massively bombed a wider area of Belgrade. The planes of criminal NATO
alliance bombed targets in the region of Topcider. Seven explosions were
heard from the direction of Topcider, Kosutnjak and Resnik. TV station
"Palma" has lost its signal for a while.
>From the rubble of perfidiously attacked building of RTS in Aberdareva
street, the body of Nebojsa Stojanovic, born 1972, was taken out. He was an
electrician, employed in the studio technical department.
The tragic list is not final yet, since the fate of seven other RTS
employees is still not known. It certain that at the time of the attack
they were on their working places.
Out of 18 wounded persons, four are still in the hospital.
>From the bombing of Novi Beograd the night before, the building of the
Museum of Contemporary Art was seriously damaged. The museum is close to
"Usce" business centre. Almost all glasses on the museum are broken in view
of the fact that almost the entire building is made of glass. Outstanding
works of art are practically in the open since for technical reasons they
could not be evacuated.
Larger-than-life sculptures have been left in the open including those by
Ivan Mestrovic, Toma Rosandic, Petar Palavicini, Sreten Stojanovic and
others, ranking among the best in the history of art.
In the Belgrade Museum of Contemporary Art many crucial works of modern
art are being kept, as well as the works of art from former Yugoslav
republics.
 
S U R D U L I C A

In yesterday's attack of the criminal NATO aircraft on Surdulica, when at
12.00 (noon) four missiles hit the town, 10 civilians killed. In this
horrible attack children were also killed. A great number of citizens were
slightly or severely wounded. Twenty of them are recovering in a hospital
in Surdulica.
It is feared that other victims may be buried in the rubble.
One missile totally destroyed two houses in the vicinity of elementary
school "Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj" where in addition to victims and wounded,
extensive material damage was caused on private houses. Other missile
destroyed two private residential buildings in the settlement of Kalifer in
Surdulica, killing or severely and lightly wounding a number of civilians.

L E S K O V A C

NATO criminal aircraft yesterday hit with high destruction power missiles
the village of Mala Bistrica on the bank of the South Morava River, some 20
km south of Leskovac. One private home was razed to the ground, while
powerful blasts damaged another dozen of homes.
One person was severely wounded.
The total number of casualties from the international train No. 393
running between Belgrade, Skopje and Thessaloniki, which was struck by NATO
missiles on 12 April 1999, is not known yet. What is certain is that a
number of victims have been blown to bits in the blast. Some have charred
in the burned railway carriages and others have drifted downstream the
Juzna Morava river.
Seventeen passengers were killed in the train and at least as many as that
number have gone missing.

V R A N J E

NATO aggressors' aircraft targeted the city of Vranje and its environ for
the eight time yesterday, at 10.45 a.m. Two highly destructive missiles hit
the northwestern, mountainous part overlooking the city.
In order to inflict loss of life and cause fear and anxiety among the
population of the Pcinj district, the NATO criminal airforce, in addition
to frequent brutal bombings, began throwing leaflets and dropping
booby-trap mines. The booby traps had the shape of pencils, lighters, small
boxes catching the eye such as Coca Cola tins which explode as soon as they
are touched or opened killing the persons who have come into contact with
them.

K R A L J E V O  A N D  N O V I  P A Z A R

In the air attack against the area around Kraljevo last night, NATO
aggressors struck the wider area of Ladjevci village, twenty kilometres
west of Kraljevo, by 12 missiles. There were no casualties in the attack.
However, more than 40 homes sustained damaged.
The aggressors also targeted Novi Pazar last night. They hit Izbice
village, where considerable damage was done to more than 30 family homes.

K U R S U M L I J A

Yesterday, NATO aggressors' fighters targeted, for the fourteenth time
since the start of the attack against our country, civilian facilities in
the Kursumlija area. NATO launched three missiles against the bridge on the
Kursumlija-Podujevo primary road in Visoka village. The aggressors' bombers
already targeted the bridge on three previous occasions - on 13, 18 and 19
April. The bridge was destroyed in these attacks.
During the most recent attack, new damage was caused to neighbouring
residential homes.
 
P O Z E G A

Last night, at 1.45 a.m. NATO criminal aircraft fired several missiles on
the area around Pozega. The "Jugopetrol" company warehouse, on the
outskirts of the town, was targeted.

P R I S T I N A

Between 1.30 and 4.24 a.m. last night, NATO aircraft launched 25 missiles,
in a few waves of strikes, against the Pristina environ. The aggressors
targeted the wider area of the municipality of Lipljan and the area of
Goles in the same municipality as well as the villages of Pomazatin and
Belacevac in the municipality of Obilic and the village of Ajvalija, six
kilometres northeast of Pristina - which are all with the majority Albanian
population - and the Slatina airport.
The aggressors fired several missiles yesterday morning at 4.45 a.m. at
the areas of Decani and Pec as well. At 8.15 a.m., three cluster bombs hit
around the Agricultural School on the outskirts of Pristina.
Yesterday, at 8.00 a.m., four strong explosions shook Pristina. Two
missiles exploded in the industrial zone in southwestern part of the city
and two of them exploded northeastern of Pristina.
The NATO aggressor hit yesterday at 8.00 a.m. and damaged the bridge over
the Lab river, between the villages of Milosevo and Babin Most on the
Pristina-Kosovska Mitrovica road, some ten kilometres northwest of Pristina.
A number of cluster bombs were dropped in the vicinity of the villages on
the slopes of Mt. Cicavica.
The NATO aggressors' aircraft in their yesterday's attack which lasted
from 1.50 p.m. to 2.20 p.m., launched a number of missiles against the area
of the village of Dobri Dub in the municipality of Kosovo Polje, which is
almost entirely inhabited by the Albanian ethnic community.

L I P L J A N

NATO aggressors' fighters bombed the wider area of the municipality of
Lipljan in Kosmet a little before 5.00 p.m. yesterday. Three missiles
struck Mt. Goles, which has been the target of NATO criminals almost on a
daily basis ever since NATO began its aggression against the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia on 24 April.

K O S O V S K A  M I T R O V I C A

The NATO criminal airforce targeted the TV mast on MT. Mokra Gora, hitting
it by one missile at 1.35 a.m. this morning. Three hours later, the
aggressor fired another missile on the neighbourhood of Bair near Kosovska
Mitrovica. Enormous material damage was caused.

B A C K A  P A L A N K A

Last night, NATO criminal aircraft targeted the wider area of Backa
Palanka for the third time since the outset of the aggression against our
country. Their target at 1.15 a.m. was the "25. Maj" Bridge connecting Srem
with Ilok on the Croatian side. The bridge was not destroyed but sustained
severe damage and cannot be used for traffic.
Enormous damage was done to surrounding buildings.

P O D G O R I C A

A number of strong explosions were heard last night, a little after 6.00
p.m., in the vicinity of Podgorica. NATO aircraft targeted the area of
Sipcanik and the place called "Kuce Rakica".