Serbia orders evacuation after discovery of NATO projectile

A neighbourhood in the southern Serbian city of Nis will be evacuated on Sunday due to the removal of NATO projectiles found in the area, said the city’s emergency situations headquarters on Friday.

“The special demining teams will be on-site on Sunday. They will relocate a bomb dating back to the NATO bombing in 1999, weighing, believe it or not, 1,000 kilograms,” said Nis Mayor Dragana Sotirovski.

According to unofficial information, as reported by local media, the bomb that was found is an unexploded “Tomahawk”.

NATO’s bombing of Serbia began on March 24, 1999, and lasted 78 days.

One of the bloodiest incidents during the NATO’s campaign happened in Nis on May 7th 1999. More than a dozen people were killed when NATO planes dropped cluster bombs on a crowded central outdoor market. The incident was later described as a “blunder”.

The city was bombed again on May 12th with cluster bombs, leading to the deaths of 11 civilians.

The city’s mayor added that the neighbourhood should be empty, devoid of people and parked cars.

Officials from various services will visit the settlement to inform residents, provide instructions, and display orders from the Headquarters and Ministry of Internal Affairs to ensure everyone’s safety.