Talha Öztürk
05 February 2016•Update: 05 February 2016
By Talha Ozturk
BELGRADE, Serbia
Bosnians gathered Friday to commemorate the 22nd anniversary of the Markale massacre, where 68 people died and 144 were injured during the Bosnian War on Feb. 5, 1994.
The Markale marketplace shelling was one of the biggest massacres committed during the siege of Sarajevo between April 1992 and Dec. 1995.
During the gathering family members of the victims, survivors and citizens paid tribute, laid wreaths and prayed for the dead.
Asim Skamo was at the market with his sister Zahida, who died in the blast.
"My sister was dead, and I was badly hurt. Everything here had fallen over. There were many dead and wounded. It was hard for me. I'm always going around this place. I do not pass nearby and cannot look at it . I cannot come here, " Skamo told Anadolu Agency, recalling the memories through tears.
"I was at the market to get things for my children. All of a sudden there was a big explosion. Everything was strewn around instantly. The only thing I saw was human pieces all around," said another survivor, Hasan Banda.
Despite the passing of 22 years, pieces of shrapnel are still in Banda's head and legs.
On Aug. 28, 1995, a second mortar exploded in the main market square killing 43 people and wounding 75.
The shellings are one of the crimes former Serbian leader Radovan Karadzic is charged with in his trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
For the Markale massacre, the ICTY sentenced Dragoslav Milosevic, commander of the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps of the Army of Republika Srpska, to 29 years in prison, among other charges.
