34 YEARS AGO, CITY WAS LIBERATED FROM MUSLIM PARAMILITARY FORMATIONS

ZVORNIK, APRIL 9 /SRNA/ - Zvornik was liberated 34 years ago from Muslim paramilitary formations that had planned to take control of the city on the Drina River, but were prevented from doing so by Serbian unity, resourcefulness, and courage, the City Organization of Families of Captured and Fallen Soldiers and Missing Civilians stated.

The president of this organization in Zvornik Milivoje Marković reminded that armed local Muslims had taken positions in the city, set up barricades, controlled entry and exit points, and expelled the Serb population. He said that on the night between April 3 and 4, 1992, the then head of the Zvornik police, Osman Mustafić, distributed weapons from the Ministry of Interior warehouse to reserve police forces composed of local Muslims and a criminal group. "However, they miscalculated. Seeing what the Muslims were doing, and having information that military formations were being prepared in the village of Kula near Zvornik, the Serbs decided to enter the city and liberate it from the Muslim paramilitary formations," Marković stated. Emphasizing that Zvornik was liberated on April 9, 1992, from those paramilitary formations, Marković said that once full control over the city was established, Muslims who wished to leave Zvornik were directed to Tuzla and other places of their choosing. The president of the city Veterans' Organization Milivoje Todorović stressed the need to preserve peace and Republika Srpska, noting that war is the greatest evil that can befall a people. Mayor Bojan Ivanović stated that this date is one of the more significant dates in the modern history of Zvornik, symbolizing the determination of the Serb people to remain on their land and in this area. He emphasized that current and future generations bear a great responsibility to preserve the memory of the events and the people who gave their lives for Republika Srpska, as well as to safeguard peace, stability, and the freedom that have been achieved. "To succeed in this, we must remain composed and united in Republika Srpska," Ivanović said. On the occasion of the Liberation Day, wreaths were laid at the monument to 1,080 fallen soldiers of the Defensive-Patriotic War.