This year there will be no large crowd marking the anniversary of the 1993 massacre in the central Bosnian village of Ahmici due to the coronavirus pandemic, the head of the ‘16. April Ahmici’ NGO told the Anadolu Agency.

Usually, hundreds gather to commemorate the victims of the attack by the Croatian Defense Council (HVO) on April 16, 1993, when 116 Bosniaks were killed as part of an ethnic cleansing operation.

Among them were 32 women and 11 children.

The 27th anniversary of the massacre will be marked by a small number of people who will lay wreaths and pray at the cemetery in nearby Vitez, the head of the NGO, Atif Ahmic, said.

Some families are still searching for the remains of their loved ones, Ahmic said.

“We are searching, but our neighbours will not tell us where their remains are buried. Our message is that what happened on that April 16 should not happen to anyone ever again, he said.

Six people were convicted for their involvement in the massacre, five of them by the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia.

Among them is Dario Kordic, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison but was released five years ago after serving two-thirds of his sentence.