Civilian casualties during Operation Allied Force
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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]
[edit] Incidents
[edit] April 5, 1999: Bombing of 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. [2]
[edit] April 12, 1999: 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.
[edit] April 14, 1999: Bombing of a refugee column
On April 14, during daylight hours, NATO aircraft repeatedly bombed 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-deaths Human Rights Watch 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.
[edit] April 23, 1999: Serb Radio and Television headquarters bombing
One of the largest incidents of civilian deaths, and certainly the largest in Belgrade, was the bombing of state Serb 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.
[edit] 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]
[edit] May 1, 1999: Bombing of a civilian bus
At least 23 people died when a NATO missile aimed at the Lužane bridge north of Priština hit a passenger bus.
[edit] May 7, 1999: 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.
[edit] May 7, 1999: Chinese embassy bombing
The U.S. admitted that an out-of-date map used by its intelligence operations had led NATO to mistakenly launch missiles at the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, killing three people, injuring a further 20. NATO said that the intended target had been the Yugoslav Federal directorate of Supply and Procurement 300 yards (270 m) away.
[edit] May 14, 1999: Bombing of 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.
[edit] May 19, 1999: Belgrade hospital struck
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. [3]
[edit] 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 http://www.nato-tribunal.de/varvarin/photo_documentation.htm
Nato spokesman Jamie Shea said the alliance had bombed a "legitimate designated military target". [4]
[edit] May 30, 1999: Second Bombing of Surdulica
Nato planes have hit an old people's home at a sanatorium in south-eastern Serbia killing at least 11 people, according to the Yugoslav media. The reports said the attack on Surdulica was the second time that Nato had hit civilian targets in the town.
Officials say the town was hit by four bombs at around midnight, two of which landed on the old people's home. Another building in the grounds of the sanatorium was also destroyed. [5]
[edit] 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. [6]
[edit] 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." [7]
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. [8]
[edit] Human Rights Watch analysis
Because of keen public interest in the civilian toll from Operation Allied Force, Human Rights Watch assumed a major undertaking to document and evaluate 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. The field mission visited forty-two of the ninety confirmed incident locations and collected primary source information on thirty other incidents. Sufficient corroborating information existed on twenty-two others to recognize their credibility (including five in which NATO has officially confirmed that it attacked nearby targets at the same time). Eight additional reported and claimed incidents have been eliminated altogether, three because they could not be verified or there was little corroborative reporting, and five because the reported deaths are actually presumed to be paramilitary policemen or soldiers. [9]
It concluded that as few as 489 and as many as 528 civilians were killed in the ninety separate incidents in Operation Allied Force. Between 62 and 66 percent of the total registered civilian deaths occurred in just twelve incidents. These twelve incidents accounted for from 303 to 352 civilian deaths. These were the only incidents among the ninety documented in which ten or more civilian deaths were confirmed. Almost half of the incidents resulted from attacks during daylight hours, when civilians could have been expected to be on the roads and bridges or in public buildings which may have been targeted. [10]
[edit] Cluster bombs use controversy
There were seven confirmed and five likely incidents involving civilian deaths from cluster bomb use by the United States and Britain. Altogether, some ninety to 150 civilians died from cluster bomb use.
The most serious incident involving civilian deaths and the use of cluster bombs occurred on May 7, during the Cluster bombing of Niš. The mid-day attack on Niš airfield, which is located inside the urban zone, killed fourteen civilians and injured twenty-eight.
After the incident in Niš, the White House quietly issued a directive to the Pentagon to restrict cluster bomb use (at least by U.S. forces). Human Rights Watch considered that to have been the right move, but was concerned, given those risks, that cluster bombs were being used in attacks on urban targets in the first place. The mid-May prohibition against the further use of cluster bombs clearly had an impact on the level of civilian deaths as the war continued, particularly as bombing with unguided weapons (which would otherwise include cluster bombs) significantly intensified towards the end of the month. Nevertheless, the Royal Air Force continued to drop cluster bombs (official chronologies show use at least on May 17, May 31, June 3, and June 4), indicating the need for universal, not national, norms regarding cluster bomb use. [11]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Civilian Deaths in the NATO Air Campaign - The Crisis in Kosovo
- ^ BBC News | Europe | Nato: 'Heaviest bombings yet'
- ^ BBC News | Europe | Nato bomb hits hospital
- ^ BBC News | Europe | Civilian deaths 'necessary price'
- ^ BBC News | Europe | Nato 'hit old people's home'
- ^ BBC News | Europe | Nato 'bombs apartment block'
- ^ Civilian Deaths in the NATO Air Campaign - The Crisis in Kosovo
- ^ BBC News | Europe | Civilian deaths 'necessary price'
- ^ Civilian Deaths in the NATO Air Campaign - The Crisis in Kosovo
- ^ Civilian Deaths in the NATO Air Campaign - The Crisis in Kosovo
- ^ Civilian Deaths in the NATO Air Campaign - The Crisis in Kosovo
