18/04/1994 | Voices from the Drina

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There are just too many people in Goražde right now: tens of thousands of people in the city, and many of them are milling around on the streets, soldiers and civilians, not knowing what to do.

The arrival of a VRS tank in Goražde town centre constitutes a violation of the recent ceasefire agreement reached by @karadžićradovan and @unakashi. Lieutenant General Rose is therefore calling for NATO air strikes against Serb forces in Goražde.

🧵 BREAKING: panic has erupted among the trapped population of the Goražde enclave, as Bosnian Serb forces enter the UN-declared safe area.

CONFLICT IN THE BALKANS: THE OVERVIEW; GORAZDE IN PANIC AS SERBIAN FORCES ENTER ‘SAFE’ AREA – The New York Times

Serb forces have entered with a tank. Artillery and snipers are taking aim at people unable to find shelter. The death toll from the last three weeks of the siege has reached more than 200.

A spokesman for the United Nations military force in Sarajevo said the town has been rendered defenceless. Major Rob Annink has added, “The Serbs can certainly march in now.”

Since the Serbian offensive began three weeks ago, more than 200 people have been killed, more than 1,000 wounded and 20,000 left homeless. The Serbs are seeking to choke off the Gorazde enclave and seize a road linking Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, with the Adriatic Sea.

The Bosnian Serbs have fought for more than two years for an “ethnic cleansing”, or removal, of the entire Muslim population of eastern Bosnia.

Besides the Gorazde enclave, only the United Nations-declared “safe areas” of Zepa and Srebrenica, to the north, have managed to hold out, although both have been surrounded by the Serbs.

People have stormed a UN building in Goražde in an effort to shield themselves. Serb forces have advanced to within 500 yards of the UNHCR headquarters in the city.

An extract from my open letter to President Bill Clinton on the tragedy in Goražde: “Please find a way to help. The lives of many people are at stake, as well as the reputation of the United States of America. (1/2)