1,000 kg NATO bomb excavated from Serbian city; thousands evacuated

Officials stated that on Sunday (April 21), experts removed an unexploded bomb from a southern Serbian city that dated back to the NATO bombing of the country in 1999.

This action led to the evacuation of over a thousand residents. The 1,000-kilogramme (2,200-pound) bomb was safely extracted from a construction site in the Nis neighborhood, as confirmed by an official from the interior ministry.

"It is being transported to a safe location where it will be destroyed,"official Luka Causic told reporters.

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He added that prior to the bomb's removal, 1,300 residents from the area where it was discovered were evacuated to ensure their safety.

Police, firefighters, and medical teams were on site to guarantee its safe transportation.

Causic mentioned that the MK-84 bomb contains an explosive charge of 430 kilogrammes.

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NATO initiated its bombing campaign against Serbia on March 24, 1999, without authorisation from the UN Security Council, and it continued for 78 days.

The objective was to halt the violent suppression of ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo by Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic.

One of the deadliest incidents during the campaign occurred in Nis on May 7, 1999. Over a dozen people lost their lives when NATO aircraft dropped cluster bombs on a crowded central outdoor market. This event was later acknowledged as a "mistake."

Additionally, the city experienced another bombing on May 12 of that year, resulting in the deaths of 11 civilians due to cluster bombs.

(With inputs from agencies)