The Duša killings refers to the shelling of the village of Duša,

Gornji Vakuf Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje ( sr-cyrl, Горњи Вакуф-Ускопље) is a town and municipality located in Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Etymology Although settlements ...

by the Croatian Defence Council on 18 January 1993, in which 7 Bosnian Muslim civilians were killed. Muslim homes were burnt down after the HVO took control of the village.

Background

Gornji Vakuf is a town to the south of the

Lašva Valley The Lašva Valley () (Serbian Cyrillic: ) is a long valley in central Bosnia, defined geographically by the Lašva River's route. It is a tributary of the Bosna River. The Lašva River basin covers the territory of four municipalities: Travnik, ...

, with a population of about 10,000 Croats and 14,000

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. On 11 January 1993, the first clashes between the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) and the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) took place. There are conflicting reports as to how the fighting started and what caused it: a bomb placed in a Muslim owned hotel used as a headquarters, or an all-out attack by ARBiH forces on HVO positions. On 16 January 1993, the HVO demanded that the ARBiH in Gornji Vakuf subordinate its troops to the HVO, which was rejected. On 18 January, the HVO attacked ARBiH positions in Gornji Vakuf.

Attack on Duša

On 18 January, the HVO attacked the ARBiH in the village of Duša,

. Civilians, including elderly people, women and children, took shelter in the house of Enver Šljivo during the combat. During the attack, the HVO artillery fired several shells from a nearby village, one of which hit the home of Enver Šviljo and killed 7 civilians, including three children, three women, and an older man who died as a result of his wounds. The shelling damaged many Muslim houses. After the ARBiH surrendered, the women, children, elderly and handicapped people were sent to the nearby village of Paloč, where a doctor examined the wounded and sent the seriously injured to a hospital in Bugojno. Others remained in Paloč for several days until the UNPROFOR moved them. There is no evidence about the detention conditions in Paloč. After the takeover of the village, HVO soldiers set fire to an unknown number of houses. Muslim men from Duša were transferred from Paloč to Trnovača and detained in a furniture factory. They were exchanged for prisoners taken by the ARBiH two weeks later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dusa killings Mass murder in 1993 1993 in Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatian war crimes in the Bosnian War January 1993 in Europe Conflicts in 1993 Massacres of Bosniaks

Background

Attack on Duša

See also

References