Defence of BiH - Igman 2017: Paying tribute to 30,000 fallen soldiers who gave their lives for BiH

Representatives of the Organizing Committee of the "Defence of BiH - Igman 2017" event announced the program at today's press conference, and thus all events and activities planned within this event, which will be held for the 17th time this year.

The traditional event will be held under the motto "Come and Witness" and, according to the organizers' estimates, will gather more than 20,000 people. It will begin tomorrow at 10 AM with the official opening at the Memorial Center in Kovači. On Friday, August 4, an activity called "The Lesson of Bosnian Resistance" is planned on Bjelašnica in Proskok, followed by paying tribute to fallen soldiers at Grkarica, Veliko polje, Mrazište, and Brezovača. On the same day, sports games will be held from 10:30 AM to 4 PM.

At 3 PM at Veliko polje, a parade of veterans of the Army and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of BiH will be organized.

The President of the Organizing Committee, the Federal Minister for Issues of Fighters and Disabled Veterans of the Defensive-Liberation War, Salko Bukvarević, stated that this year too, due tribute will be paid to the martyrs and fallen soldiers who gave their lives for the defense of their country.

- From Mount Igman, we will send a message to all friends of BiH that the veterans of the Army of RBiH and the MUP are still in formation to defend our only homeland. We will send messages of peace and messages that we will never forget our comrades who gave their lives - emphasized Bukvarević.

He announced that the event "Defence of BiH - Igman 2017" will gather participants from all over the country who have made the maximum contribution to the organization of the event, which has been held for the past 13 years in the areas of the Kovači martyr cemetery, the D-B War Tunnel, Mount Igman, and the Igman War Mosque, and this year will be no different.

The Minister for Veterans' Affairs of Sarajevo Canton and the Deputy Chairman of this committee, Muharem Fišo, stated that tribute will also be paid in this way to the 30,000 heroes who gave their lives for BiH.

- We say this so that young people know, those who were not born, that every inch of this land is soaked with the blood of heroes - Fišo conveyed, adding that from Igman, as in previous years, a message of peace will be sent.

A religious program for the fallen, mevlud and zikr, as well as the serving of parastasis and memorial masses, have also been announced. The religious program at the Igman War Mosque will begin tomorrow evening.

The general patron of this year's event is the member of the Presidency of BiH, Bakir Izetbegović.