(VOVworld) – Various activities will be held in Serbia and Montenegro on Tuesday to mark 15 years since NATO launched its bombing campaign against Serbia on March 24^th, 1999.

Traces of the war in which NATO carried out air raids on military bases and strategic targets in Serbia on March 24, 1999. (Photo: dw.de)

In Belgrade, a monument was inaugurated to commemorate 16 people who died in NATO’s air raid at the national television station of RTS. Universities in Serbia will also hold ceremonies in memory of the event. The 78-day air-strike by NATO which began on March 24^th, 1999, is embedded in the memory of people of Serbia, Montenegro, and other member states of former Yugoslavia. NATO pilots bombed the military and civilian targets of the former Yugoslavia, including the province of Kosovo and the Serbian capital Belgrade, causing serious damages to its infrastructure. The campaign claimed the lives of thousands, including more than 2,000 civilians, 1,000 Yugoslavian soldiers, 5,000 others injured, and 1,000 more whose fates have not been established even today. Yugoslavia’s industrial, defence and civilian facilities were destroyed, costing up to 100 billion USD. To date, this campaign has left heavy consequences, with many residential areas in Serbia, especially in the southern region, facing radiation rates higher than normal.