34th anniversary of the beginning of the Serb and JNA occupation of Kijevo marked

On August 26th 1991, the village of Kijevo was occupied by Serb and Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) forces. On that day, the JNA under the leadership of Ratko Mladić attacked the small settlement at the foot of Dinara Mountains with heavy weapons. 14 civilians were killed, and the village was completely burned and demolished.

A commemoration marking the 34th anniversary of the beginning of the Serb and Yugoslav People's Army occupation of the village of Kijevo was held on Tuesday. On August 26th 1991 enemy forces launched a massive attack on the settlement. Prior to that Croatian defenders had managed to hold back the Serb and JNA attacks for a full year. Along with killing fourteen civilians and razing the village to the ground, three Croatian defenders, including Frane Jurić Arambašić, were killed in the onslaught. Jure Teskera was a war-time member of the Kijevo Police Station: "Frane came to get our wives and children in Kijevo. He gathered them and took them across the Civljane barricade towards Kaštela and to safety. He returned over the Kozjak mountain pass to defend his village and this is where his young life came to an end."

For Mijo Teskera, himself a war-time member of the Kijevo Police Station, it is tragic that the devastation visited on the village and its inhabitants is no longer remembered: "Not a single house remained in Kijevo. The elderly that stayed were summarily executed and their bodies thrown into wells. Unfortunately, no one speaks about this these days."

The President of the Croatian Association of Inmates of Serbian Concentration Camps from Split-Dalmatia County, Ivan Turudić, says that in spite of the massive sacrifice, it was worth standing for Croatian independence: "Ultimately, it was worth every drop of blood sweat and tears, every sacrifice, so that we can live in freedom and democracy today."

Source: HRT