In the second massacre at the Markale City Market on August 28th, 28 years ago, 43 civilians were killed and 84 were seriously wounded, among whom was Amerisa Ahmetovic, who at the age of 16 was severely injured in a mortar attack by the then Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) and was left without a leg.
The longest trip of my life
Amerisa was among dozens of civilians who came to buy food at the market, and in an interview, she recalled that fateful day when, as she said, there was an apparent truce.
“I was 16 years old, I came to buy something that I could buy with the money I had and what was offered. Around 10 a.m. I entered the market and bought some things. I went to the rear exit. I came back, went to the exit again, and came back for the third time, but then when I wanted to exit again, when I stepped out, there was only darkness, silence, and the smell of gunpowder. It crossed my mind that there was a massacre because there was already a massacre at the Markale Market and we saw what it looked like on television. I was aware that a shell had been fired at the market,” Ahmetovic said.
“I looked at my hands, I saw that there was no damage. Everything was black from the gunpowder. I look down, and I move my skirt to see. One leg is where it is supposed to be, but a piece of meat is hanging from the other, my leg is gone. I was left without a leg. I was talking to myself. These are the moments when a person has to think and come to an agreement with himself. A man was lying without legs, without a head, just a torso. I was thinking that I had to ask for help and I threw myself at that man. The moment I fell on him, I felt his heart still beating. I just raised my hand. As soon as the shell fell, people came to help. Their solidarity was huge. They didn’t worry about whether another shell would fall, but to save as many wounded as possible,” Ahmetovic added.
As she pointed out, she felt pain for the first time after getting into the car, and the trip from the market to the University Clinical Center was the longest journey of her life.
Peace is the most precious thing
It took her many years, she says, to get to the place of the massacre. She added that she avoided the city market in every possible way.
“I had to learn how to live again. When you look at me visually, you would say that I am not missing anything, but I know best when I face myself in the evening when I have to take off the prosthesis and have to put it on in the morning. Especially when the children were small, when I needed to get up I couldn’t. I was handicapped. It’s not easy for anyone who faces a disability, it’s not easy for them to live,” Ahmetovic emphasized, adding that life is even more difficult for people with disabilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
Despite the difficult life trials, she remained a brave, cheerful, and optimistic woman for whom peace is the most precious thing, Federalna reports.
E.Dz.
