Catholic World News News Feature

Bosnian Catholic Church Bombing Only Part Of Pattern Of Violence July 30, 1998

SARAJEVO (CWNews.com) - The Croatian representative in the town of Kakanj, where suspected Muslim extremists blew up a Catholic church, said on Wednesday that 14,000 ethnic Croatians out of 18,000 were forced out of Kakanj by Muslims during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the rest of the Croatian population was subjected to persecution.

Niko Lozancic said that over the last year, there have been numerous terrorist attacks on Croatians in the region. A bazooka was fired on the Franciscan monastery in Kraljeva Sutjeska; Several houses of Croatian refugees who returned to Kakanj were destroyed; A Croatian's shop was attacked; and a house was burned down a month ago. The police have not arrested any suspects, with the exception of one man for murder of a Catholic nun in Kakanj.

"It was an attempt to scare off returnees," Lozancic said. "I spoke to ordinary people. They asked themselves what will happen to them if even the churches are attacked." Lozancic added that he is still optimistic, since he sees the attacks as the last twitches of Islamic extremists. Muslim returnees in other regions have also been subjected to various forms of harassment and persecution by Croatian extremists where they hold the majority.