5TH ANNIVERSARY OF SKABRNJA MASSACRE MARKED

ZADAR, Nov 18 (Hina) - The marking of the fifth anniversary of Croatians' suffering during the occupation of Skabrnja began on Monday morning when wreaths were laid by the cross at the town cemetery in Zadar (central Adriatic coast). The village of Skabrnja case is known as one of the worst atrocities committed in the war in Croatia in 1991. On November 18, 1991, the former Yugoslav National Army (JNA), allied with the local Serb rebels, attacked the village with several thousand troops and some 30 tanks. After entering the village soldiers dragged the local civilians out from the house cellars and killed some of them. Some villagers where beaten and tortured, while an elderly woman was ran over by a tank. In the wake of the occupation the aggressors killed 86 people, 60 of whom were civilians. On the fifth anniversary of this plight, Croatian Government officials, Skabrnja civic heads, Croatian Army representatives and families placed wreaths in Zadar. The parish priest of Skabrnja Tomislav Sikiric said prayers for the victims of the Skabrnja massacre. Commemoration of death of villagers killed at Skabrnja five years ago will continue in the reconstructed school in the village. (hina) jn mš 181223 MET nov 96