KAJEVIĆ: THE SUFERING OF SERB SOLDIERS IN ŽEPA – EPIC MOMENT COMPARABLE TO PAŠTRIK AND KOŠARE BATTLES

EAST SARAJEVO, JUNE 3 /SRNA/ - The death of 45 Serb soldiers during the Defensive-Patriotic War, ambushed and treacherously killed in a gorge near Žepa despite a prior agreement, is an epic event akin to the suffering of Serb soldiers at Paštrik and Košare, said Delibor Kajević, one of the Serb soldiers who survived Žepa.

Kajević emphasized that the ambush in Žepa took place at the beginning of the war in BiH, at a time when large-scale combat operations had not yet begun. "We were sent toward Žepa based on an agreement with the Muslim side, supposedly to safely reach our former JNA soldiers stationed at the Zlovrh TV relay, retrieve them, and return – it was meant to be a humanitarian mission," recalled Kajević, who is a historian. He stated that the Serb soldiers convoy came under heavy fire from all directions in the Buđinov Potok canyon after passing through several villages under Muslim control. "I saw my comrades falling around me like wheat being cut," Kajević said. He has added that truck drivers transporting food and supplies for the Zlovrh personnel were especially targeted by Muslim extremists. "Since we were not prepared for combat and were not in a combat formation, we suffered devastating human losses. Most of the fallen came from the areas of Pale, Ljubogošta, Han Derventa, and some of us were from Srpsko Sarajevo," Kajević, AKA Dela, explained. He has said that, by a twist of fate, he found himself in Žepa and survived those horrific moments of what he described as a shameless and cowardly attack by Muslim forces by the will of God. "Thank God I survived, unlike many of my brothers and comrades. That is an epic moment that deserves a film – it has all the elements. It’s similar to the heroic battles fought by Serb heroes at Paštrik, Košare, and other places where the struggle for Serb freedom was waged," Kajević emphasized. According to him, the loss of 45 Serb soldiers and around 50 wounded left a deep and indelible mark on their surviving comrades. "Even though my comrades and I went through worse situations later in the war, Žepa remained deeply imprinted in our hearts and souls, maybe because it was at the very beginning," Kajević noted. He adds that to this day, the first thing he remembers is June 4, 1992, and the horrors of Buđinov Potok, before recalling anything else he experienced during the Defensive-Patriotic War. Žepa near Han Pijesak marks tomorrow the 33rd anniversary of the killing of 45 Serb soldiers, who were ambushed and murdered despite a prior agreement with Muslim forces. This was one of the most tragic losses for the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps of the Republika Srpska Army during the war. A memorial to the fallen Serb soldiers is located between Han Pijesak and Rogatica, along the line between the villages of Podžeplje, Stoborani, and Krivače, which belong to the municipality of Han Pijesak and the local community of Žepa in Rogatica.