Written by: Dr. sc. Zilha Mastalić Košuta
Ahmići is a village in the central area of Bosnia and Herzegovina that belongs to the municipality of Vitez. It covers the area around the main road communication Sarajevo - Travnik - Zenica. According to the 1991 census, 466 people lived in the village, with the majority Bosniak population (76.4%). Until April 16, 1993, the village was home to slightly more than 300 forcibly deported Bosniaks from the surrounding areas. Ahmići is also the local community of the same name, which includes the settlements Ahmići, Pirići, Nadioci, Kratine.
On April 16, 1993, there were simultaneous and coordinated attacks by Croatian HVO forces on Ahmići as well as on villages along the Lašva valley and on the town of Vitez. Ahmići had primary importance for the preservation of road communication Vitez - Busovača. The decision to attack Ahmić was confirmed at a meeting of the command of the Central Bosnia Operational Zone in Busovača, led by convicted war criminals Dario Kordić and Tihomir Blaškić, on the night of April 15-16, 1993. It was decided "to attack the Muslims in the morning". Convicted criminal Paško Ljubičić, commander of the 4th battalion of the HVO Military Police, said at the meeting that "the groups will move in a line and that there should be no living witnesses." In order to justify the attack, intensive propaganda activities were launched "about the ARBiH as the initiators of the conflict", in which Blaškić was especially prominent. Due to the primary importance of this area, the most combative units of the HVO, the anti-sabotage platoon of the "Jokery" unit and the Knights Brigade of the HVO were involved in the attack. In order to prevent UNPROFOR from entering the area of Ahmići, it was agreed that members of the Knights Brigade of the HVO would block the road from Vitez.
Early in the morning of April 16, at 5:30 a.m., the general HVO attack began, initially on the northern part of Ahmić. The shelling was such that it prevented people from fleeing towards the forest area north of the village. The only thing left for the residents was to stay in their homes or flee south towards the main road to Vitez. Most of the inhabitants chose the option of fleeing towards the southern part, towards the open field. However, they were met there by an ambush by members of the HVO, into which at least 20 people fell. They were killed in cold blood, at close range by shooting in the head and neck. There were no survivors. During the shelling of the northern side of the village, HVO soldiers entered the village and according to an earlier agreement, moved in groups of five or more, shooting and throwing hand grenades through the doors and windows of residential houses. An average of about 50 shells were fired at each house from various weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades. Members of the HVO ordered some of the residents to leave their houses and were summarily killed, while some of them were killed in their homes. At the same time, Bosniak houses were set on fire.
116 people were killed in Ahmići. The killed residents of the village of Ahmići were mostly elderly people, women, children and infants. Entire families were killed and burned in Ahmići. 11 children were killed, including a three-month-old baby, Sead Ahmić.
On the day of the crime, the UN forces entered the village at around 12 noon with the intention of taking over the wounded and killed civilians. There are videos of the surviving residents of Ahmić begging the UN forces for help. The crime was already largely committed by then. Ten days after the crime, the field staff of the UN Special Rapporteur went to the field. Their reports show that some houses were still smoking and around 100 bodies were under the rubble. The village was then described as a place where "the stench of death" came from. All of the approximately 180 homes of the Bosniak population were completely destroyed. About fifteen Croatian houses were left intact, while some local Croats were there the whole time and did not want to talk about the crime. International observers reported seeing HVO soldiers firing grenades at homes and indiscriminately shooting at civilians. They also stated that the HVO murdered a certain number of families in their homes with a bullet to the head from close range and that at least one rape was committed by the HVO. HVO soldiers also repeatedly drove the non-Croatian population out of their homes. As an argument for justifying such expulsions, it is justified by the need for "the creation of additional housing units for the expected arrival of exiles of Croatian nationality". Everything that reminded the inhabitants of the Islamic religion was destroyed in the village. Two mosques were also destroyed.
There were no military targets in the village and no organized resistance to the attack, which was confirmed by international observers and some local Croatian HVO commanders. At the time of the attack in Ahmići, Bosniaks were caught sleeping, which disproved certain statements of the Hague defendants that the Bosniaks were ready to attack the HVO. Before the International Court in The Hague, Dario Kordić, Tihomir Blaškić, Paško Ljubičić, Miroslav Bralo, Anto Furundžija, Drago Josipović, Vladimir Šantić were convicted of this crime.
The crime in Ahmići is an extremely serious war crime and one of the most monstrous crimes against the Bosniak population, carried out in a planned, organized and systematic manner. In the proceedings conducted before the International Court in which this crime was treated, it was established that the conflict between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict, due to the direct involvement of the Croatian Army (HC) and the existence of general control by Croatia over the forces and authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Croats".
Some of the testimonies of surviving victims of crimes in Ahmići can be found here.
"16. April 1993, in the morning, at 6 o'clock, I felt like a strong storm, then I saw bullets hitting the wall overhead. Then I heard a loud banging on the door. My husband and three children were in the house with me. As soon as I heard a knock on the door, I started towards the corridor... Suddenly I heard a scream. After that, my son said he was wounded. I turned and saw my son standing on his feet with his right hand raised. At that moment I did not see where the wound was. Then I shouted: 'Don't shoot, my child is wounded!' At that moment my husband also shouted: 'My child is wounded, don't shoot!' I saw the barrel of the rifle through the window. One of the warriors told me to go outside. The husband took his son in his arms and walked towards the door. I heard a shot and saw them fall. I tried to go outside. I approached my son, took him in my arms and saw that he was dead. I took it into the house, laid it on the floor and closed my eyes. His face was bloody. I took a wet cloth and washed him. I tried to go outside several times to see what was wrong with my husband. They didn't give me bursts. I called him, and he answered me. I was looking for something to help my husband. When I came back, he was dead. I told the girls that they were both dead. On my son's body, I saw three wounds on his stomach and one on his chest."
These and similar testimonies could be heard from each of the approximately 130 surviving witnesses from the village of Ahmići. The testimony of Hadji Hazim Ahmić, which can be found here, is also very poignant
In addition to the attack on Ahmići, on April 16, very strong actions began in other places of the Viteška municipality (the villages of Kruščica, Vranjska and Preočica, and Stari Vitez) as well as villages in the Busovačka municipality. At dawn, on April 16, members of the HVO broke into houses in Stari Vitez as well. Serious crimes were committed against entire families, and one of them was committed against the Topalović exile family from Jajce, when the entire family was shot, including the two-year-old girl Amela Topalović.
dr. Zilha Mastalić Košuta is a research associate at the Institute for Researching Crimes Against Humanity and International Law at the University of Sarajevo.