30 years have passed since the horrific crimes in Ahmići: 116 residents were killed simply for being Bosniaks

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Thirty years ago, one of the most brutal war crimes in the former Yugoslavia took place in Ahmići near Vitez.

In the early morning hours of April 16, 1993, local units of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) carried out an attack on Bosniak civilians in Ahmići.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague states that 116 people were killed in Ahmići, 24 were wounded, 169 houses were destroyed, and two mosques.

The ICTY ruled that these crimes were crimes against humanity, and one of the perpetrators of this action, Dario Kordić, was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

The crime was discovered by UN peacekeeping forces composed of the British army, and Colonel Bob Stewart.

On Friday, April 16, at 5:30 AM, the HVO simultaneously attacked the settlements of Vitez, Stari Vitez, Ahmići, Nadioci, Šantići, Pirići, Novaci, Putiš, and Donja Večeriska.

Croatian residents of these villages were warned of the attack in time, and some even participated in it.

Croatian women and children were evacuated the day before the fighting. That morning, HVO vehicles blocked the main roads, and the attack began from three sides to direct the fleeing population towards the south, where soldiers were waiting and shooting at them.

Small groups of about five to ten soldiers went from house to house, setting them on fire and killing or forcing out the residents.

In the end, Ahmići was heavily destroyed. 116 people were killed, of whom 32 were women and 11 were children under 18 years of age.

Two local mosques were destroyed by explosives.

According to data from the Center for Human Rights in Zenica, out of 200 Bosniak houses, 180 were burned down.

The perpetrators were members of the following units: Anti-Terrorist Battalion of the HVO Military Police "Jokers", Viteška Brigade of the HVO, PPN Vitezovi, and the "Nikola Šubić Zrinski" Brigade, writes Historija.ba.

The following were convicted for this crime: Dario Kordić (25 years), Zoran, Mirjan, and Vlatko Kupreškić were sentenced to prison terms of 6 to 10 years for participating in the attack, but were acquitted by a final verdict in 2001.

Drago Josipović received 12 years and Vladimir Šantić 18 years in prison. Dragan Papić was acquitted.