15 Die in Sarajevo as Fierce Shelling Shatters a Brief Lull in Fighting

Fierce shelling killed 15 people in Sarajevo on Monday, including five members of one family slain near the presidency building and a girl killed as she and other children left kindergarten.

The latest tragedies in the 20-month siege of Sarajevo came on a fair day that lured residents out during the first lull in fighting since pre-Christmas peace talks collapsed.

By early afternoon, shelling and sniping broke out all over the city, sending people rushing for shelter. Fifteen shells hit near the U.N. headquarters, while a single shell exploded 500 yards from the presidency, killing five members of one family, said Maj. Idesbald van Biesebroeck, a spokesman for the U.N. peacekeepers.

The United Nations counted 14 dead on the Bosnian side, including at least three children, he said. One woman was killed in a Serb-held district. More than 200 shells rained down on the city.

At least one child was killed when two shells smashed into a crowd of children leaving a kindergarten in western Sarajevo.

“I have seen many dead and badly wounded people, but I have never seen such horrible wounds as this,” said Dr. Jansina Tahmaz in Sarajevo’s main hospital as she stared at the dead girl.

A boy suffered severe head wounds, and three other children were among 14 injured sent to Kosevo Hospital, said Dr. Davor Tomic. The only other Sarajevo hospital reported 16 wounded, including one child.

Alma Begovic, who suffered minor leg wounds and shock in the shelling, said the children had just left kindergarten.

“There were a lot of children playing,” she said. “Two shells landed. I didn’t hear or see anything, I was just looking for my child. She wasn’t injured. I don’t know how, because it seemed to me a shell landed only a yard away.”

Serbian shelling of Sarajevo has increased markedly since peace talks stalled in Brussels on Dec. 23, and fighting between predominantly Muslim government and Croatian forces in central Bosnia has escalated sharply.

Three people were killed and 10 wounded in the government-held city of Visoko, 12 miles northwest of Sarajevo, Bosnian radio said. There was no independent confirmation of the report.