Remembering April 5, 1992: 1,425 Days of the Siege of Sarajevo, Shells, Death, Wounding, Hunger...

(Patria) - On this day 28 years ago, the siege of Sarajevo began, lasting 1,425 days and becoming one of the longest in the history of modern warfare, writes the news agency Patria. 

The siege began with the seizure of Sarajevo International Airport by the JNA, on the night of April 4-5, 1992. The four-year blockade of the capital was called the “Siege of Sarajevo.” 

On that April 5, 1992, peace demonstrations were held, where citizens of Sarajevo demanded that the aggressor forces remove the barricades and withdraw. Several tens of thousands of people sought to prevent war and oppose the already prepared aggression against independent Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Members of the SDS fired from the roof of the Holiday Inn hotel at the demonstrators. After the demonstrations held at Marijin Dvor, the gathered demonstrators headed towards the then Vrbanja Bridge. Snipers positioned in the building opposite the gas station opened fire on the people, and there, on the bridge, they killed Suada Dilberović and Olga Sučić. Suada and Olga were the first victims of the siege of the city. 

From April 5, over the next 1,425 days of the siege, an average of 329 shells fell daily on Sarajevo, and this city also holds a specific record. Namely, it is the record of 3,777 shells fired at Sarajevo in a single day. This happened on July 22, 1993.

The shells caused enormous damage, with civilian, cultural, and religious facilities suffering the greatest damage. People were killed, civilian, cultural, and religious buildings were destroyed, and even hospitals. On the hills around Sarajevo, 120 mortars and 250 JNA tanks were stationed, which later fell into the hands of the Army of Republika Srpska. Their goal was to starve and demoralize the population in the cruelest ways.

During the siege of Sarajevo, more than 11,000 people were killed, including 1,600 children, and 50,000 people were lightly or seriously wounded.