Suffering of Serbs during Operation Storm in distressing photos: This is what Croatia celebrates

Photo: Profimedia

A quarter of a century has passed since the greatest ethnic cleansing took place in our region after the Second World War, when the Croatian army started the military-police operation "Storm" during which 250,000 Serbs were expelled from their homes, while more than 1,800 were killed.

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The greatest suffering of our people in recent history was marked yesterday by Belgrade and Banja Luka, as in previous years, by remembering the victims and refugees, while today, Zagreb will celebrate this as victory and homeland thanksgiving and veterans day.

The memory of almost 2,000 victims and about 250,000 expelled Serbs from Croatia, the painful days of tractor columns, of Petrovacka Cesta, the killed children, the suffering and crimes, has been lasting for 25 years.

See the suffering of Serbs expelled from their homes in these photos:

During Operation Storm, a wave of refugees set off from the territory of the Republic of Serb Krajina (RSK) only to get attacked by Croatian artillery and air force on their way to Serbia and the Serb Republic (RS).

The military-police action began at dawn on August 4, 1995, and during the next three days, Croatian forces killed at least 1,800 Serbs and expelled 250,000, after which they established control in the territory of the then Republic of Serb Krajina.

During those three days, 250,000 people left their homes and tried to find salvation by fleeing to Serbia and the Serb Republic. Although aware that these were civilians, the Croatian artillery and air force carried out constant attacks against refugee columns.

The Veritas Documentation and Information Center said that according to their records, 1,861 Serbs were killed or went missing during and after Operation Storm. Most of the dead and missing were civilians - 1,211, while three quarters of them were over 60 years old. Among the victims are 548 women, of whom about four-fifths were over 60 years old.

(Telegraf.rs/Telegraf.co.uk)