Podujevo bus bombing

Infobox terrorist attack
title=Podujevo bus bombing


caption=Location of the attack
location=near Podujevo, Kosovo, Serbia, FR Yugoslavia
target=Serbs
date=February 16, 2001
time=
timezone=
type=bombing
fatalities=12
injuries=44
perps=Albanian extremists
motive=Serbophobia, Serbian-Albanian conflictThe Podujevo bus bombing was a terrorist attack on a civilian bus in a Serb-populated area near the town of Podujevo in Serbia, Kosovo on 16 February 2001 by Kosovar Albanian extremists. 12 Serb civilians who were on route to the Gračanica monastery site were killed and dozens more injured.

Gračanica is a predominantly Serb-populated town in central Kosovo, near the regional capital Priština, in a predominantly Albanian-populated area. Following the Kosovo War in 1999 it became an enclave within Albanian-controlled territory. Relations between the two communities were tense and occasionally violent.

The attack

On 16 February 2001, a bus carrying Serb civilians on a "commemoration mission" to family graves in Albanian-controlled territory was destroyed by a roadside bomb at a spot near Podujevo, en route to Gracanica. It was one in a convoy of five buses carrying 250 people from the city of Niš, escorted by armoured personnel carriers from the Swedish contingent of the KFOR peacekeeping force. According to KFOR's regional commander, the bomb comprised between 100-200 lb of high explosive, detonated using a command wire. ["Ruthless murder of Serbs on road to family graves", "The Birmingham Post", 17 February 2001] .

Aftermath

Of the 56 passengers on the bus, twelve were killed and all the remainder very seriously injured, along with several bystanders and passengers on other buses who were hit by shrapnel from the blast. The final death toll took some time to establish due to difficulties in identifying the number of bodies. Amongst the dead were the bus staff and two children, as well as several women.

The relief operation and investigation was undertaken by British and Ukrainian peacekeeping units. Six other bombs were discovered and defused nearby. The local KFOR commander, British Brigadier Robert Fry, conferred with both Serbian and Kosovar leaders, and although there were protests in the town following the blast, they were largely peaceful.

Two Albanian men were arrested for the attack, but they were not charged with anything. Fact|date=February 2007 The blast angered Serbian officials and the community, who had endured numerous attacks by Kosovar Albanians in recent months. They demanded that the UCPMB stop its attacks, and that KFOR do a better job of monitoring the situation in future. Four men were later suspected of committing the attack, but they "escaped" (read: were released from) a U.S. detention facility in 2002 and have not since been charged with any crime. Fact|date=February 2007

References

See also

*1998-present persecution of non-Albanians in Kosovo

External links

* [http://www.balkanpeace.org/hed/archive/feb01/hed2644.shtml Reuters News Report]
* [http://www.balkanpeace.org/hed/archive/feb01/hed2667.shtml BBC News Reports]
* [http://www.kosovo.net/news/archive/2006/February_17/1.html 6-year anniversary report]

To see a list of fatalities, see: [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gra%C4%8Danica_bus_bombing&oldid=60365132 List of fatalities]