Numerous delegations laid wreaths on Friday at the Banj hill near the northern Bosnian city of Banja Luka, commemorating the victims of the anti-fascism uprisal in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The wreaths were laid for the Krajina region victims of the People's Liberation War on the 77th anniversary of the Bosnia and Herzegovina peoples’ uprisal against fascism.

More than 3,000 Banja Luka citizens were involved in the battles, and some 1,000 lost their lives. The city glorifies 21 national heroes from that period.

“The monument to the fallen Krajina people stands above Banja Luka for 57 years. We gathered to pay respects for those who had initiated the resistance at the time when the boot of fascism was marching from the Atlantic towards Moscow,” said Banja Luka Mayor Igor Radojicic.

He recalled that most of the symbols of that time disappeared but that this date remained as a symbol of the fight against fascism.

Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska entity, the Serb-dominated part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nedeljko Cubrilovic conveyed a message on this day, saying that the victims must never be forgotten.

Addressing the attendees of the Banj hill event, RS Minister for Labour and Veterans’ Affairs Milenko Savanovic said that the Serb people survived on the territory of the RS owing to those who had fought against fascism. He stressed that Banja Luka sacrificed a lot in that battle.

“Millions of people died on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the World War I and the World War II,” said Savanovic, who is also a chairman of the National Assembly's Committee dealing with the tradition of liberation wars.

The wreaths at the Banj hill memorial were laid by the Serbian President's representative Sinisa Karan as well as the delegations of the RS Government, the Russian Embassy to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the City of Banja Luka, Montenegro, the Jewish Cultural Centre Ariel Livne and the Third Infantry Unit.