Civilian casualties during Operation Allied Force

Civilian casualties as a result of Operation Allied Force were significant. Many of the people killed in the NATO airstrikes were widely reported to be civilians, both Serbs and Albanians. Human Rights Watch confirmed ninety incidents in which civilians died as a result of NATO bombing. It reported that as few as 489 and as many as 528 Yugoslav civilians were killed in the ninety separate incidents in Operation Allied Force.^[1] According to Yugoslav Committee for Cooperation with UNICEF, the Yugoslav civilian victims are more than 1,200.^[2]

According to military historian Michael Oren, for every Serbian soldier killed by NATO in 1999, four civilians died, constituting a civilian casualty ratio of 4:1.^{[3][dubious – discuss]}

Background

Incidents

April 5, 1999: Bombing of Aleksinac

Damage in Aleksinac

The 13th night of air strikes included the first major NATO mistake when an attack on a barracks on the southern mining town of Aleksinac resulted in missiles striking a residential area. Serb TV reported at least five dead and at least another 30 injured when the three missiles fell 600 m short of their target. The missiles struck apartments, an "emergency centre" and a medical dispensary, TV reports said. Commenting on the incident, Air Commodore David Wilby of Nato said "It is possible that one of our weapons fell short of the target.^[4]

April 12, 1999: Grdelica train bombing

Main article: Grdelica train bombing

NATO's attack on a railway bridge hit a passenger train, killing 14 and leaving 16 injured. The Belgrade-Thessaloniki train had been crossing the bridge near Leskovac, southern Serbia as the air-launched missile released several miles away reached its target.

April 14, 1999: Bombing of a refugee column

Main article: NATO bombing of Albanian refugees near Đakovica

On April 14, during daylight hours, NATO aircraft repeatedly bombed Albanian refugee movements over a twelve-mile (19 km) stretch of road between Đakovica and Dečani in western Kosovo, killing seventy-three civilians and injuring thirty-six others Human rights could document. The attack began at 1:30 p.m. and persisted for about two hours, causing civilian deaths in numerous locations on the convoy route near the villages of Bistrazin, Gradis, Madanaj, and Meja.

April 23, 1999: Serb Radio and Television headquarters bombing

Main article: NATO bombing of the Radio Television of Serbia headquarters

One of the largest incidents of civilian deaths, and certainly the largest in Belgrade, was the bombing of state Serbian Radio and Television (RTS) headquarters in Belgrade on April 23. As a consequence, sixteen RTS civilian technicians and workers were killed and sixteen were wounded.

Dragoljub Milanovic was the director general of Serbian Radio and Television and belonged to former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic's Socialist Party of Serbia. He was found guilty and jailed for 10 years for intentional withholding information from his employees about the eventual bombing, which had a direct effect on the number of dead. The justification was media points from the west.^[5]

April 27, 1999: First Bombing of Surdulica

At least 16 civilians were killed after two NATO missiles hit a residential area in the southern town of Surdulica. [1]

May 1, 1999: Bombing of a civilian bus

Main article: Lužane bus bombing

At least 23 people died when a NATO missile aimed at the Lužane bridge north of Priština hit a passenger bus.

May 7, 1999: Cluster bombing of Niš

Main article: Cluster bombing of Niš

NATO confirmed that a cluster bomb aimed at an airfield in the Yugoslav city of Niš hit a hospital and a market, killing 14 civilians. Local officials said that a further 60 people were injured in the daylight attack which left unexploded cluster bombs lying in gardens.

May 7, 1999: Chinese embassy bombing

Main article: US bombing of the People's Republic of China embassy in Belgrade

A salvo of US JDAM GPS-guided bombs struck the embassy of the People's Republic of China in Belgrade, killing three Chinese diplomats and injuring 20 others. CIA director George Tenet later admitted in congressional testimony that the CIA had organised the strike and that it was the only strike of the campaign organised by his agency, though he still claimed it was accidental. China has never accepted the US explanation for the incident.

May 14, 1999: Bombing of Koriša

Main article: NATO bombing of Albanian refugees near Koriša

At least 100 civilians died after NATO bombed what it said were "legitimate military targets" in the village of Korisa, southern Kosovo. Footage broadcast by Serbian TV showed charred remains, including at least two children, smouldering homes and burning tractors.

May 19, 1999: Belgrade hospital strike

A NATO bombing attack led to the deaths of at least three patients in a Belgrade hospital. Parts of the Dragiša Mišović hospital, near a barracks in the Dedinje district, were reduced to rubble. NATO admitted a missile aimed at an army barracks in the Dedinje district, which is close to the hospital, went astray.^[6]

May 30, 1999: Bombing of Varvarin

11 civilians were reported killed and a further 40 injured when NATO bombers mounted a daylight raid on a bridge in Varvarin, south-central Serbia. Yugoslav sources said local people were attending the town's market when the attack happened at 1pm local time. Witnesses said four cars fell into the Velika Morava river. Rescuers who went to aid of the injured were hit in the second attack.

A first-hand account of what happened was published in the Irish Times. One of their reporters visited the village shortly after the bombing. Photos of the "military target" and the civilian casualties are available at [2].

Nato spokesman Jamie Shea said the alliance had bombed a "legitimate designated military target".^[7]

May 30, 1999: Second Bombing of Surdulica

NATO planes hit an old peoples' home at a sanatorium in south-eastern Serbia killing at least 11 people.^[8]

May 31, 1999: Bombing of Novi Pazar

At least 10 people were killed and 20 injured in a NATO missile attack on an apartment building in Novi Pazar, southwest Serbia.^[9]

NATO strategy and claims

From the very beginning of Operation Allied Force, minimizing civilian casualties was a major declared NATO concern. According to NATO, consideration of civilian casualties was fully incorporated into the planning and targeting process. All targets were "looked at in terms of their military significance in relation to the collateral damage or the unintended consequence that might be there," General Shelton said on April 14: "Then every precaution is made...so that collateral damage is avoided." According to Lt. Gen. Michael Short, "collateral damage drove us to an extraordinary degree. General Clark committed hours of his day dealing with the allies on issues of collateral damage." ^[10]

Then-NATO spokesman Jamie Shea said "There is always a cost to defeat an evil," he said. "It never comes free, unfortunately. But the cost of failure to defeat a great evil is far higher." He insisted NATO planes had bombed only "legitimate designated military targets" and if more civilians had died it was because NATO had been forced into military action.^[7]

A street in Belgrade destroyed by NATO bombs

Human Rights Watch analysis

Human Rights Watch documented and evaluated the impact and effects of the NATO military operation. Human Rights Watch confirmed ninety incidents in which civilians died as a result of NATO bombing. These included attacks where cluster bombs were dropped.^[11]

See also

• Strategic Bombardment in the Kosovo War
• Civilian casualties during the NATO intervention in Libya

References

1. ^ Civilian Deaths in the NATO Air Campaign - The Crisis in Kosovo
2. ^ Krieger, Heike (2001). The Kosovo conflict and international law. Cambrige University Press. p. 323. ISBN 978-0521800716. http://books.google.com/books?id=-OhPTJn8ZWoC&pg=PA323&lpg=PA323&dq=civilian+deaths+in+1999+bombing&source=bl&ots=74u940OrT8&sig=xfrVt8NTQ4kntr0D_xFshCaPwhQ&ei=yOO-SYzLGIKBtgfzp_D2Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=9&ct=result. Retrieved 2009-04-19. 
3. ^ Michael Oren, UN report a victory for terror, Boston Globe 24-09-2009
4. ^ "Nato: 'Heaviest bombings yet'". BBC News. April 6, 1999. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/312597.stm. 
5. ^ http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-87581976.html
6. ^ "Nato bomb hits hospital". BBC News. May 20, 1999. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/348287.stm. 
7. ^ ^{a b} "Civilian deaths 'necessary price'". BBC News. May 31, 1999. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/357355.stm. 
8. ^ "Nato 'hit old people's home'". BBC News. May 31, 1999. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/356918.stm. 
9. ^ "Nato 'bombs apartment block'". BBC News. June 1, 1999. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/357609.stm. 
10. ^ Civilian Deaths in the NATO Air Campaign - The Crisis in Kosovo
11. ^ Civilian Deaths in the NATO Air Campaign - The Crisis in Kosovo

External links

• Nato's bombing blunders (BBC)
• Civilian Deaths in the NATO Air Campaign - The Crisis in Kosovo (HRW)
• List Of Incidents Involving Civilian Deaths in Operation Allied Force (HRW)
• SELECT CHRONOLOGY OF NATO ATTACKS, MARCH 24-MAY 7, 1999 (HRW)