Bosnian Enclaves Received Arms and Ammunition from Croatia, Says Witness at Mladic Trial
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Kecman, a former commander of a unit within the army of the Serb Krajina region, said forces under his command shot down helicopters and planes which were transporting arms and ammunition to Bihac for the Bosnian Army, despite an international embargo.
He claims the same method was used to arm other UN protected enclaves, such as Srebrenica and Sarajevo.
“We had information that this was being done from Zagreb,” Kecman said.
Kecman also described how a Ukrainian plane, which previously transported a load of ammunition and supplies to Bihac, was also shot down. He did not, however, mention when this happened.
“When it came back, we hit it with a rocket…It fell near Plasko. I was there where it fell down,” Kecman said. He said the crew was Ukrainian, and found out later on that the pilot was a Bosniak named Samir Begic.
Flights to Bihac, Kecman said, began in Krk and went through Zagreb.
“We saw them on our radar and our units saw them,” Kecman said.
Mladic, the former commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, has been charged with orchestrating and executing the Srebrenica genocide, in which approximately 7000 Bosniak men and boys from Srebrenica, a UN protected enclave, were killed. The killings took place in the days following the occupation of the enclave by the Bosnian Serb Army on July 11, 1995.
Mladic has also charged with the persecution of Bosniaks and Croats (which reached the scale of genocide in some municipalities), terrorizing the local population of Sarajevo, and taking UN peacekeepers hostage.
The trial continues on Monday.
