NATO planes destroyed a large part of Aleksinac on April 5, 1999, at 9:35 p.m., and 12 citizens died in the attack, while dozens were wounded or injured.
It soon became clear that exclusively civilian objects were targeted and that a horrific image of death and ruins remained after the aggression.
After dawn, it could be seen that the mining town on the Moravica was destroyed, and the head of the Nišava District, Jovan Zlatić, stated: “The city is cut in half. Almost half of the houses and multi-story buildings are unusable.” As he said, “the villains aimed to kill civilians, because the bombs did not hit a single military facility.”
Seven bombs of great destructive power were fired at the city that evening. The center of Aleksinac was destroyed, and several residential blocks were demolished within a radius of 500 meters.
16 private houses were destroyed to their foundations, and more than 400 apartments were rendered unfit for living and staying, among them three multi-story buildings with 80 residential units.
One bomb was dropped on Dušana Trivunca Street, and six houses were destroyed to their foundations by it. In Vuka Karadžića Street, 10 family houses were destroyed.
The bombs that were dropped in the center of Aleksinac demolished the Health Center, the emergency station, the dental clinic, the Institute for Health Protection, and “Jugobanka”.
One bomb fell between the facilities of the “Angrokolonijal” company and the “Empa” electrical products and lighting industry, which required complete restoration. The factory of concrete electric poles and substations also suffered damage from the bombs, while one bomb fell near the Belgrade-Niš main road.
“It may be that we hit a civilian settlement,” NATO official press representative David Wilby stated later in the day, adding that it was of “deep regret” if that information proved to be correct. As he said, NATO planes were targeting a barracks.
Reports from world agencies at that time, for the first time since the beginning of the aggression against Serbia, i.e., the FRY, had a somewhat more objective tone. In a Reuters information, it was described: “A young woman stood in shock at the place where her parents’ house once was, screaming that she wanted to see them” (…) “It was hell. We fell over each other, furniture was flying around, glass was shattering on the floors, people were screaming.”
The Associated Press agency summarized in a few words: “Pools of blood, two corpses and body parts lay on the ruins of a residential block of a city in central Serbia after last night’s air attack.”
On that occasion, Reuters drew attention to the fact that NATO aggression was supposed to stop “alleged armed violence against Albanians.”
French media reported on the same day that NATO admitted that civilians died in last night’s bombing of Aleksinac. “Civilian casualties are huge, there are dead children,” reported a journalist from the daily “Figaro”.
That small town of miners and their families was targeted for the first time 48 hours after the NATO aggression against the FRY began, in the evening, March 26, around 8:15 p.m. The industrial part, in the southwest of the city, was hit then, and the facilities of the bus station, the agricultural combine, the garment factory, the driving school, and the “Morava” motel were destroyed. Fortunately, there were no fatalities.
Ten days later, on April 5, shortly after 8 p.m., an air danger was announced in Aleksinac, and in the bombing that began at 9:35 p.m., an even larger part of the city was destroyed.
Four citizens of Aleksinac also died when NATO missiles hit a train in the Grdelica Gorge, including one child.
Aleksinac was also a target on May 28, 1999, when Novo Naselje was targeted. Three people were killed and about ten were wounded or injured.
In total, during the NATO aggression against Serbia, 20 citizens, civilians, died in Aleksinac, and over a hundred were injured. 50 buildings were completely demolished, and 120 collapsed. When the war ended, it was established that a total of 752 buildings had become unsuitable for living due to damage, while the city’s economic potential was almost completely destroyed.
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Source: RTV,Photo: EPA