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According to
the official results of the 1991 census, the Jajce district had
44,903 residents:
15,781 Croats
(35,1%)
17,400 Moslems (38,8%)
8,684 Serbs (19,3%)
3,038 others (6,8%)
Serbs and YPA
soldiers carried out the first armed act of aggression on the district
area on March 23rd 1992. This attack was followed by the attacks
on March 26th and early April 1992. On April 16th 1992 followed
the Serbian attack on the village of Jezero. On May 27th 1992, the
Serbian artillery attacks were launched on the town of Jajce, and
on August 12th the air raid was carried out, during which time the
town was heavily bombed. The B-H Army and the HVO joint forces defended
the town of Jajce and the sections of the district that were not
under occupation from the Serb aggression.
Around October
20th 1992, B-H Army soldiers retired from their positions and moved
towards Travnik. On October 29th 1992, the Serb infantry marched
into the town that was torn by street-fights between HVO and Serb
soldiers. More than 30,000 surviving civilians and HVO soldiers
abandoned the district and moved towards Travnik. B-H Army soldiers
confiscated motor vehicles and arms from the HVO soldiers who were
retiring.
They also took
money and other valuables from the Croat civilians. During the aggression
(March-October 1992) Serbs fired some 180,000 artillery shells of
various kinds, six earth-to-earth "LUNA" missiles and
many other missiles, bombs etc. from YPA airplanes.
Thousands of
residential and farm buildings were destroyed as well as hundreds
of farms and industrial plants. Almost the entire historic and cultural
heritage by which Jajce has always distinguished itself in the world
were destroyed, as well as all mosques and Catholic churches. As
yet unestablished number of Croat and Moslem civilians remained
in the town of Jajce after the Serb occupation, some of them were
arrested and imprisoned in the "Jajce" hotel at the Pliva
Lakes. Thirty imprisoned civilians were killed and their bodies
were disposed of in the Pliva River. Many civilians were taken to
the area called "Misja ravan", where they were killed
(mostly by knife) and thrown into a nearby cave.
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