Families and officials gathered on Sunday at the Sarajevo's Markale marketplace to honour dozens of those killed on August 28, 1995, by mortar shells fired by the Bosnian Serb forces from the outskirts of Sarajevo.

A total of 43 Sarajevans were killed and 84 injured in the shelling.

Delegations laid wreaths and paid their respects with a minute's silence.

“The message we would like to convey from this place is that we forgive and would like to forgive, but that we will never forget and will not allow that what was happening during the war and the aggression on Bosnia and Herzegovina is ever forgotten. What matters is the culture of remembrance. We must honour our victims, our history, in order to build a better and brighter future,” said Sarajevo Mayor Benjamina Karic.

She said she was proud that citizens and authorities were there together on this day to honour the victims.

On August 28, 1995, Bosnian Serb forces fired mortars from Trebevic mountain and committed what is known as the second Markale massacre. The first Markale massacre took place in 1994 when a mortar shell killed 68 and wounded 144 people at the same spot.

The Markale massacres are among the worst atrocities that were committed during the siege of Sarajevo which lasted 1425 days and still marks one of the longest sieges in the history of modern warfare.

Throughout those years, 11,541 Sarajevans, including 1601 children, were killed in the city.

Anadolija

Anadolija

Sarajevo was bombarded nearly constantly and about 329 shells fell on Sarajevo daily on average. The city also holds one of the saddest records in history – on July 22, 1993, a total of 3,777 shells were fired on Sarajevo.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has sentenced two high-ranking members of the Army of Republika Srpska for the crimes committed against residents of Sarajevo during the war. Stanislav Galic was sentenced to life in prison, while Dragomir Milosevic received a 29-year sentence.