12:07 BELGRADE, March 24 (Tanjug) - NATO's bombing campaign against the former FR Yugoslavia, in which approximately 3,5000 people were killed and after which international protectorate was established over Kosovo and Metohija, the temporary institutions of which unilaterally proclaimed the province's independence more than a month ago, was launched on this day nine years ago.
On March 24, 1999, without a corresponding decision of the UN Security Council, NATO forces launched air raids which went on for almost three months and in which not only military targets were destroyed, but also energy plants, buildings, densely populated settlements, trains, civil convoys…
Although all negotiations between the international community and then Yugoslav leadership on Kosovo-Metohija issue failed before this, there were few that believed the attacks would really take place.
Then NATO secretary general Javier Solana reached the decision on the attacks on March 23, 1999, after the talks in Rambouillet and Paris which failed because then Belgrade authorities refused to accept a military annex to the contract for the settlement of the Kosovo crisis, which, actually, envisaged an occupation of the FRY.
Air raids were launched on March 24 at 7.45 pm CET. The first targets were the military airports in Pristina, Podgorica, Batajnica and Uzice, as well as targets in Kursumlija, Novi Sad, Pancevo, Kragujevac and Lucani.
There is almost no city in Serbia which was not at least once the target of NATO's bombs and missiles during the 11 weeks of aggression, while Montengro, for most of the time, was spared from the large-scale bomb attacks.
NATO forces launched attacks on FRY from vessels in the Adriatic Sea and from four air bases in Italy, and strategic bombarders, which flew from the bases in Western Europe or the United States, also took part in certain operations.
According to the data of the state bodies, 1,002 members of the Yugoslav Army and the Serbian police, and about 2,500 civilians, including 89 children were killed, while about 10,000 people were injoured or wounded during the 78 days of the bombing campaign called "Merciful Angel."
In the war against our country, the North Atlantic Alliance used the most deadly weapons, as well as forbidden weaponry, and threw more than 36,000 cluster bombs and 15 tons of ammunition with radioactive ingredients on 112 locations.
Most of the depleted uranium projectiles were thrown on the region of Kosovo and Metohija.
In several cities and smaller towns - Aleksinac, Kursumlija, Cuprija, Nis, Novi Sad, Murin, Valjevo, Surdulica… entire quarters or settlements were torn down and a great number of civilians were killed on the occasion.
Along with the military targets, bombs were thrown on refugee columns in Kosovo, a passenger train in Grdelicka Klisura gorge, the bridge in Varvarin, the market place in Nis…
The Dragisa Misovic hospital and the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade were also hit, and a dozen innocent civilians were killed on the occasion.
Almost all transmitters of the Serbian Broadcasting Corporation (RTS), including the Tower on Avala, were destroyed in the air strikes, and on April 23, at 2 am CET, the RTS building was hit and 16 of its workers were killed on the spot, while four others were heavily wounded.
A total of 54 road structures, 148 residential buildings, and about 300 schools, hospitals and state management buildings were destroyed during the bombing campaign, and 176 culture monuments, including 23 Medieval monasteries, a great number of churches across Serbia, as well as several mosques and Islamic sites, were demolished or ruined on the occasion.
One third of the country's electronic capacity was destroyed, two oil refineries (Pancevo and Novi Sad) were bombed, and NATO forces for the first time used the so-called graphite bombs to disable the functioning of the Serbian electro-energetic system.
According to experts, the material damage that was caused during the air raids is estimated to somewhere between 30 and 100 billion dollars.
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