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Srebrenica buries 127 victims of 1995 massacre victims

Monday, 11 July 2016 2:56 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 11 July 2016 5:45 PM ]

A Bosnian Muslim woman, survivor of Srebrenica 1995 massacre, prepares to bury body of her relatives, at the memorial cemetery in the village of Potocari near Eastern-Bosnian town of Srebrenica, on July 11, 2016. (AFP photo)

The remains of 127 newly-found victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre have been buried more than 20 years after the carnage.

On Monday, several thousand people gathered in the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica to bury the coffins containing the remains of the 127 victims from Europe's worst massacre since World War II, whose bodies have recently been retrieved from mass graves.

Mourning families of the victims paid tribute by laying flowers and hugging the coffins before the burial ceremony at a memorial site in the village of Potocari near Srebrenica.

Muslim woman cries near coffins of her relatives, killed in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, which are lined up for a joint burial in Potocari near Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 11, 2016. (Reuters photo)

The youngest victim was 14 years old and the oldest 77.

"My brother is here, the pain is immense," said a member of a victim family, who added, "His bones were found in the woods... Seven years ago, we were told that only two bones were found, but recently more remains were discovered and we decided to bury what was found."

A Bosnian Muslim woman, survivor of Srebrenica 1995 massacre, mourns near the graves of her relatives, at memorial cemetery in the village of Potocari, near town of Srebrenica, on July 11, 2016. (AFP photo)

According to the Bosnian institute of missing persons, some 6,300 victims are currently buried at the memorial site and 230 in other cemeteries.

Every year, new bodies are discovered and the remains are identified through DNA analysis before being buried at the Potocari memorial center.

Muslim women cry next to a grave before mass funeral in Potocari memorial center, Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 11, 2016. (Reuters photo)

The remains of around 1,500 other victims are yet to be identified in the aftermath of the massacre.

In July 1995, Serbian death squads butchered over 8,000 Muslim Bosnian boys and men in Srebrenica in a few days, in the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.

The carnage took place after Bosnian Serbs ran over the Bosnian town, even though it was formally declared a UN-protected area.

In March, former Bosnian Serb political leader, Radovan Karadzic, was convicted of war crimes for his role in the Srebrenica killings and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Bosnian Serb military chief, Ratko Mladic, is still on trial at The Hague for war crimes and genocide in Srebrenica.

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