22 years since the massacre of Bosniaks in Ahmići

The program marking the 22nd anniversary of the massacre of 116 Bosniaks in Ahmići began on April 14 and will last until April 18, with numerous delegations expected to arrive in Ahmići on April 16, writes the Bosnian news agency Patria.

Protocol for April 16, 2015

11:30 – reception

12:00 – recitation of Yasin-i Sharif at the Martyrs' Cemetery in Vitez

12:30 – organized departure to Ahmići

13:00 – midday prayer at the mosque

13:25 to 13:45 – address by the imam of the Ahmići congregation, address by Chief Imam Mihnet ef. Mehmedović, address by a representative of the Citizens' Association „April 16“

13:45 – ilahis

14:00 – kelime and tawhid by Mufti Ahmed ef. Adilović

14:10 – address by the Grand Mufti or his representative

14:25 – ashura

14:30 – prayer

14:45 – visit to the Martyrs' Memorial

BLOODY APRIL 16, 1993

In the early morning of April 16, 1993, in an attack by the special unit Jokers of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO), more than a hundred Bosniak civilians were killed. The official website of the „April 16“ Association lists 116 names of victims of the Ahmići massacre. Of that number, about 33 were women and children. 

According to the indictment transmitted by the UN, it is stated that during the attack, groups of HVO soldiers went from house to house killing and wounding Bosniak civilians, burning houses, barns, and livestock behind them. This attack lasted several days and involved hundreds of HVO soldiers.
The night before the attack, Croats from those villages were evacuated. The HVO began the attack first from a distance by shelling Ahmići-Šantići, and then groups of soldiers went from house to house attacking civilians and their property, using incendiary tracer rounds and explosives. HVO soldiers set fire to almost every Bosniak house in Ahmići-Šantići, as well as two mosques.

The operation codenamed „48 hours of ash and smoke“ also claimed the life of an 81-year-old woman, while the youngest victim was a baby only three months old. The massacre was uncovered by UN peacekeeping forces composed of the British army and Colonel Bob Stewart.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia ruled that the killings in Ahmići were a crime against humanity, and one of the commanders of this operation, Dario Kordić, was sentenced to 25 years in prison and was released in early June 2014.