In Bosnia, Christmas Eve Brings Shelling and Death
Christmas Eve brought more of the shelling and death that have racked Bosnia for nearly two years, shattering hopes for a peaceful holiday.
“In our suffering city, like elsewhere in Bosnia-Herzegovina, we are celebrating Christmas counting our dead and wounded,” Msgr. Vinko Puljic, spiritual leader of Bosnia’s Roman Catholics, said in a radio address from Sarajevo.
Bosnian radio said that shelling in Sarajevo killed at least two people and wounded at least 34. On Thursday, heavy shelling killed eight and wounded 50 in the capital.
Fighting also was reported elsewhere in Bosnia despite Christmas truces that leaders of the Muslim-led government and Croatian and Serbian communities affirmed Wednesday at peace talks. The latest round of negotiations, sponsored by the European Community, broke off Thursday.
All sides accused the others of violating the truce, which was to have lasted until Jan. 15.
The collapse of peace talks and holiday truces disrupted aid efforts in central Bosnia. U.N. officials said Croats blocked aid convoys coming from the Adriatic coast. A Croatian spokesman said heavy fighting in the area forced the closure.
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