34 YEARS HAVE PASSED SINCE MUSLIM POGROM AGAINST SERBS IN POFALIĆI

ISTOČNO SARAJEVO, MAY 16 /SRNA/ - Muslim paramilitary units launched an attack on the Sarajevo neighborhood of Pofalići on this day in 1992, during which around 200 Serb civilians were killed, while Serb property was looted and burned alongside the killings and expulsions.

On May 16, 34 years ago, the so-called Patriotic League and Green Berets carried out a broad and systematic attack against the Serb population in the Gornji Pofalići neighborhood, during which Serbs were captured, beaten, taken to camps, or killed on their doorsteps. Dozens of people were killed solely because of their Christian first and last names, while hundreds were arrested, brutally beaten, and terrorized. Of the many abused women, it has been confirmed that two underage girls were raped. According to data available to the competent authorities of Republika Srpska, the attack on Pofalići was prepared by the commander of the Territorial Defense of BiH, Hasan Efendić, and local Territorial Defense commander Idriz Salko. In just one day, Serbs were completely driven out from 16 square kilometers of territory where the Serb people had lived for centuries, according to the “Atlas of Crimes” published by the Republic Center for Research of War, War Crimes and the Search for Missing Persons. The operation involved the Pofalići One unit, commanded by Habib Idrizović, the Pofalići Two unit under the command of Jusuf Lošić, and the Velešići unit commanded by the late Enver Šehović, while the Military Police battalion was headed by Dževad Topić. Before the attack, Pofalići was shelled daily, and the neighborhood was also targeted by sniper fire. During these daily attacks on Pofalići, Slavica Đurović and her neighbors, Savo Marić and Obren Pantović, were killed, while Slavica’s husband, Dobro Đurović, was seriously wounded. After the killing of retired police officer Mlađen Bratić, fear and panic spread among the population. Bratić was killed on May 4, 1992, in Gornji Pofalići, while Dragomir Ignjatović was wounded the same day. Ten days later, Rajko Savić was killed by sniper fire, after which terror against Serb civilians, along with the destruction and looting of their property, intensified. Then, on May 16 at 05:30, an attack on the neighborhood, which was surrounded, began from several directions: the Railway Station, the Tobacco Factory, Buća Potok, and Kobilja Glava. Nada Vasković was also killed, while the married couple, Vojislav and Marica Pikulić, were taken from their home and are still listed as missing to this day. Married couple Mirko and Rosa Savić were also killed, as were Božidar and Ljubica Elek, whose bodies were later burned. Spouses Stana and Stevan Vasković, as well as Vida Bratić, were also killed. The crime in Pofalići claimed hundreds of lives, although the exact number has never been determined, since many Serbs sought refuge in the predominantly Serb-populated Pofalići neighborhood at the beginning of the war. Many are still listed as missing to this day, while those who survived this ordeal have not regained their property and are therefore unable to speak openly about the suffering of their loved ones, fearing obstruction and negative reactions from the Sarajevo authorities regarding their property restitution claims.