REMAINS OF 17 SOLDIERS IDENTIFIED WITH HELP OF DNA METHOD

ZAGREB, June 14 (Hina) - The remains of 17 Croatian soldiers, exhumed from mass graves in Croatia, have been identified at the Zagreb Institute for Forensics. The remains include the bodies of 12 soldiers killed during the Serbian aggression in Croatia, which were exhumed from the Ovcara mass grave near Vukovar, and five bodies exhumed from mass graves in the Banovina and Danube River regions. The bodies were identified with the help of the DNA method, which gives 99% accurate identification results when combined with classic identification methods, said Davor Strinovic, member of the Government Commission for Missing and Detained Persons, and Milovan Kubat, head of the DNA laboratory. This is the 62nd successful identification in which the DNA method was used, Kubat said. So far, 175 out of 200 bodies discovered in the Ovcara mass grave have been identified. The grave contained the bodies of Croatian soldiers who were executed after Serb paramilitaries occupied Vukovar. The victims were between 17 and 65 years of age, including two women. According to the Commission's data, another 1,450 persons are still held missing. (hina) rml