IN BANOVINA, REMAINS OF 556 VICTIMS EXHUMED SO FAR

PETRINJA, March 3 (Hina) - Exhumation of the victims of the Serbian aggression against Croatia resumed on Wednesday for the first time this year in Banovina, the area around Petrinja (about 60 km south- east of Zagreb). About 20 sites in Petrinja, Dvor, Kostajnica and Glina believed to be mass graves will be examined in the coming three days. On Wednesday morning, remains of a killed man in civilian clothes were exhumed at the town cemetery of Petrinja. Another four sites in this town are being unearthed today. To date, 556 victims have been exhumed from 37 mass graves and individuals graves in Banovina. Of them, 436 have been identified. Another 346 people are registered as missing, the head of the Croatian Commission for the detained and missing persons, Ivan Grujic said on Wednesday. After Banovina, western Slavonia is to be combed in search for mass graves. So far, remains of 2,860 casualties have been unearthed from 109 mass graves and individual graves in the Croatian areas liberated by the 1995 operations "Flash" and "Storm". Of them 2,225 persons have been identified. Another 1,175 people are still recorded as missing or forcibly detained. (hina) ms