BOSNIA: OMERBEGOVACA: 5 HOUSES ARE BLOWN UP

(30 Nov 1996) English/Nat
The Nato-led peace force in Bosnia says up to five houses were blown up Thursday in Omerbegovaca - a village in the north of Bosnia on the Serbian side of the zone of separation.
A Muslim leader, Huso Boar, was slightly injured and taken to a nearby U-S base camp for treatment.
The blasts occurred just after 11pm (2200 GMT).
So far, there is no information on who was responsible.
IFOR troops from North America were patrolling the village of Omerbegovaca Friday after up to six explosions the night before had rocked the village.
Five homes were destroyed - all belonging to Muslims.
There have been repeated instances of houses being blown up in the demilitarised zone in the past few weeks as Muslims return home to the now Serb-held territory.
SOUNDBITE:
"No, there were about five blasts in this area. We're concerned about the guy it happened to, we knew the guy, we knew him and, ahh, he was getting ready to... There's nothing really to explain really. I'm not ready to say really about it. It's just kinda stupid I think."
SUPER CAPTION: Vox pop from IFOR soldier
This Muslim woman her home in the attack.
She returned Friday with her distraught young daughter to retrieve any personal effects which survived the explosion.
Although IFOR is yet to determine just who was responsible, suspicion has fallen on Serbian extremists.
Under the terms of last year's Dayton agreement all refugees must be allowed to return to their homes.
But in recent weeks several houses in the demilitarised zone between the two halves of Bosnia have been destroyed to stop Muslims from living there.
NATO forces say they are powerless to prevent the Serbs from blowing up homes because they do not have enough soldiers to control each village.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Well late Thursday night, there were six explosions at Omerbegovaca. We understand that in the order of four to six houses were destroyed and IFOR condemns this sort of activity. The North American patrols were sent out to investigate in the hope of either catching the perpetrators or finding some evidence which might lead to their capture. We have found no evidence to date but we continue with our patrols in the area. We certainly hope that this is not the beginning of another concerted campaign to further deter the refugees and IFOR will do all it can to help protect such wanton destruction in the future."
SUPER CAPTION: Major Brad Bodreau, IFOR spokesman.
NATO forces are trying to determine exactly what type of explosives were used.
Find out more about AP Archive: www.aparchive.c...
Twitter: / ap_archive
Facebook: / aparchives ​​
Instagram: / apnews
You can license this story through AP Archive: www.aparchive.c...