ZAGREB, 8 Nov (Hina) – Veterans Minister Tomo Medved on Friday visited a recently discovered mass grave near Negoslavci in the Vukovar area from which the remains of five individuals gone missing in the Homeland War were exhumed.

Medved said the remains belong to middle-aged and older men from the Vukovar area. Trial excavations began on 30 September, and approximately 1,000 square metres of land have been examined so far. The site has been identified as a primary grave.

Trial excavations are also being conducted at Petrovačka Dola near Vukovar, where remains of Homeland War victims have been found, as well as at Ovčara, where no remains have been found.

This year field investigations have been conducted at 20 locations, including 14 within Vukovar-Srijem County, and 16 sets of remains have been identified, Medved said. He hopes identification will soon be organised for two previously found remains in Negoslavci, the five newly exhumed remains, and a portion of the exhumed remains from Petrovačka Dola.

In Croatia, 1,788 individuals are still listed as missing since the Homeland War, with the fate of 1,398 unknown, while 390 individuals are known to have been killed.

Medved also commented on the recent arrest and extradition from France of Željko Travica, a suspect in war crimes in Cerić and Mirkovci, saying this demonstrates the hard work of Croatian law enforcement.

„This site and these five sets of remains are evidence of murder, which the State Attorney’s Office and the Interior Ministry are actively investigating“, he said.