July 1995 | Voices from the Drina

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It is with a broken heart that we are shutting down the Srebrenica wartime schools. We simply cannot guarantee the safety of the children as Serb forces increase their attacks.

The time has come to create the preconditions for the elimination of the enclaves in eastern Bosnia.

Today the Drina Corps has created two tactical groups. The first will be under the command of Vinko Pandurević. The second will be under my command. Important days ahead for the Republika Srpska.

Today I said goodbye to my brothers, Samir and Esad. They’re fleeing before the Serbs reach the town.

🧵 Serb attacks on Srebrenica are now relentless. It seems the concept of the “safe area” is about to undergo its greatest test.

The centre of town is being shelled every hour and there are battles between our fighters and the Bosnian Serb army (VRS) on the outskirts. Our lines are being pushed back every hour.

Injured after injured are coming into the hospital. I’m sleeping maybe 2-3 hours a night. Everything points to the Serbs invading Srebrenica but I don’t want to believe it. I want to feel that something, someone, will save us. Surely the international community won’t let us fall.

My son, Edin, has been killed by a Serb grenade. I can’t eat. My other son is next to me, begging me to eat. “Mama, I have also lost my brother and friend, yet I am eating.”

I’m thinking about all those parents’ meetings at school. Edin’s teacher Milena would always tell me, “you shouldn’t have come. In school he is great. He only gets As.” My baby is dead.

All the primary school directors have been killed by Serb shelling. I’m in hospital, seriously injured. My colleagues are dead.