By Aaron Miller-
A man who threw an explosive device onto the grounds of the United States Embassy in Montenegro killed himself with another explosive in the process,
Officers have not determined a motive for the attack in Podgorica, the capital, but they have identified the bomber through DNA testing, said Enis Bakovic, deputy director of the national police. Speaking at a news conference, Mr. Bakovic referred to the man by his initials, D. J., in keeping with the practice of withholding a suspect’s name while an investigation is underway.The man has since been named as Dalibor Jaukovic, a Serbian-born Kosovo war veteran.
Jaukovic was a member of the Yugoslav armed forces in the late 1990s, during a period in which the United States launched 78 days of air strikes against Serbia to bring an end to the 1998-1999 Kosovo war.
Jaukovic died when he detonated a second explosive device outside the embassy compound early on February 22 after throwing a Yugoslav-made M75 “Kashikara” grenade over the compound wall, police said. Speculations that his death was the result of a suicide mission has been balanced with the real possibility that the explosive prematurely detonated before he executed it against its intended target.
Montenegrin police are still investigating the motive for the attack. Indications on what is believed to be Jaukovic’s Facebook page are that he felt strong resentment toward the United States for its air campaign against Serbia during the Kosovo war and its role as a strong advocate for Kosovo’s independence from Serbia.
Photographs posted on Jaukovic’s Facebook page include a medal and a certificate for his service in the “Defense and Security of the Federal Yugoslav Republic.” Jaukovic’s Facebook profile also reveals that in 1999 he was recognized by Slobodan Milosevic for “outstanding dedication to his duties in the defense and security of the homeland” during the Nato
In a May 2017 Facebook post, Jaukovic expressed his anti-NATO sentiments by declaring “No to NATO.”
Jaukovic’s Facebook posts also belittled Milo Djukanovic, the president of Montenegro during the Kosovo war who later became a pro-Western prime minister who put the country on its path to NATO membership.
A meme posted on Facebook by Jaukovic on January 2 features a well-known 1919 painting by Uros Predic called Kosovo Maiden, but with Djukanovic lying wounded among the soldiers who fell in the 1389 Battle of Kosovo.
Montenegro is one of the world’s youngest nations. It is a tiny country of 640,000 sand witched between Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, and Albania. It was once part of Yugoslavia, before becoming part of the nation of Serbia and Montenegro. Montenegro declared its independence in 2006. Montenegro joined NATO last June, despite strong opposition from Moscow with whom it has long held strong affiliations
Jaukovic was also a member of a Serbian-language Facebook group called “Russophiles,” where on February 15 he posted the message: “Shame on Montenegro. Fascists are closer to us than Russians.”