SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina Survivors of the Bosnian war and relatives of victims of the Srebrenica genocide recounted their painful memories of the conflict to Anadolu on the 29th anniversary of the genocide, in which more than 8,000 people were killed. On Dec. 21, 1991, Bosnian Serbs proclaimed their own republic after voting against independence from Yugoslavia in a referendum.
On Jan. 9, 1992, they proclaimed the Republic of the Serbian People in Bosnia-Herzegovina but did not officially declare independence. Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence after a referendum held on Feb.
29 and March 1, 1992 which sparked a three-year war. The war lasted until Dec. 14, 1995, and more than 100,000 people were killed and 2 million had to migrate.
The fate of approximately 7,000 people who disappeared during the war is still unknown. Relatives of the war victims cannot forget the pain of losing their loved ones, despite the 29 years that have passed. Sisters Fatima Mekanic (60) and Mulija Selimovic Hodzic (58) told Anadolu about the painful days they lived through as they lost their father, brothers, and many relatives in the Srebrenica genocide.
Hodzic and her husband, together with their three children, were living in the city of Vlasenica up until Serb forces entered their region after the start of the war in 1992. She said her husband, father-in-law, and four brothers-in-law were killed in Vlasenica, and her mother, father, two brothers, and daughter-in-law had to flee.
