Heavy flooding uncovers 24 Bosnia war graves

The remains of 24 people believed to be Muslims and killed during the ethnic cleansing war of the 1990s in Bosnia are exhumed by heavy flooding that hit the country two months ago.

Lejla Cengic, spokesperson for The Missing Persons Institute of Bosnia-Herzegovina (MPI) told AFP on Friday that torrential floods in May removed a three-meter layer of ground, exposing a mass grave site on the left bank of the Bosna River in southern part of the country.

She said 24 bodies were found in the area between the towns of Maglaj and Doboj, after a month-long excavation operation to exhume bodies uncovered by flooding.

“Most of the victims had their hands tied around their backs, while several were killed by a bullet fired at a close range to the neck,” Cengic said.

The remains allegedly belong to Muslim men from the village of Jablanica, near Maglaj, who were killed by Serb forces at the start of the war in June 1992.

The Bosnian War which took place between 6 April 1992 and 14 December 1995 claimed some 100,000 lives. Official data shows that more than 9,000 people are still missing.

Torrential rains hit Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia in mid-May, killing 77 people.