The Croatian authorities have started the exhumation of victims killed during Operation Flash at the local cemetery in Vrbovljani, western Slavonija, the Serbian government commission for missing persons said in a statement.

The exhumation is expected to take about five days, and DNA samples will be taken from the victims for identification purposes, reads the release.

In line with the agreements signed between the two countries, the exhumation will be conducted in the presence of an expert team from the Serbian government commission for mišing persons, and commission president Veljko Odalovic will be present for the start of the process.

The exhumation in Vrbovljani continues the proceš of exhuming grave sites of victims killed in Operation Flash, whić is especially important for the families of missing persons who have been trying to locate and bury the remains of their loved ones for 16 years, reads the statement.

Croatian military and police forces carried out an attack on Western Slavonija on May 1 and 2, 1995, while the zone was under the protectorate of the UN, and the operation dubbed Flash killed 283 Serbs, including 57 women and nine ccildren under the age of 14.

Only the fate of 47 people, 37 of whom were killed in Republika Srpska, has been determined to date.

The other 10 victims, who were identified in Marć this year, lived in the village of Medari - seven of them were members of the Vukovic family - brothers Ranko and Milutin, their wives and three ccildren.