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Shocking New Details Emerge As Tourists Accused Of Joining Deadly ‘Human Safari’ To Kill ‘Most Beautiful Women’
Disturbing new claims have emerged about how wealthy foreigners paid huge sums to take part in deadly ‘human safari’ trips.
The siege, which lasted from 1992 to 1996, remains one of the most brutal episodes in modern European history.
For nearly four years, the Bosnian capital was surrounded by Bosnian Serb forces, leaving civilians trapped inside a city where daily life meant dodging shells, sniper fire, hunger, cold, and terror.
More than 10,000 people were killed during the siege, with residents forced to sprint across streets, hide behind vehicles, and risk their lives simply to collect water, food, or medicine.
Now, fresh allegations from Croatian journalist Domagoj Margetic’s book Pay and Shoot have reignited claims that some of the killing was not carried out only by soldiers, but by rich outsiders who allegedly paid to shoot civilians for sport.
Sarajevo became a city under constant fire
When Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia, Sarajevo quickly became the center of a devastating military siege, per the New York Post.
Bosnian Serb forces surrounded the city from the surrounding hills, cutting off supplies and subjecting civilians to relentless shelling and sniper attacks.
One of the most infamous areas became known as ‘Sniper Alley,’ a main boulevard where residents were routinely targeted while trying to cross streets. Images from the time show men, women, and children running for their lives as bullets hit around them.
For those trapped in Sarajevo, there was no safe routine.
Going to school, walking to work, standing in line for bread, or fetching water could all become fatal. The danger was so constant that civilians learned to move quickly, avoid open spaces, and use burned-out vehicles or buildings as cover.
The siege later became central to war crimes prosecutions at The Hague. Bosnian Serb leaders and commanders were convicted over campaigns of terror against civilians, including murder, persecution, and attacks on the population.
But rumors have circulated for decades that another grotesque layer existed alongside the military violence: so-called ‘sniper tourism.’
Claims of ‘human safari’ trips have circulated for years
The idea is almost too horrific to comprehend.
According to long-running allegations, wealthy foreigners traveled into the war zone and paid local handlers for the chance to fire at civilians from sniper positions around Sarajevo.
These trips have been described as ‘human safaris,’ a term that captures the alleged depravity of treating trapped civilians like hunting targets.
The claims gained renewed attention in 2022 through the documentary Sarajevo Safari by Slovenian filmmaker Miran Zupanic, per the Sun.
The film included testimony from people who alleged that foreigners had been escorted to sniper positions during the war.
In 2007, former US Marine John Jordan testified at The Hague before the UN tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Jordan, who had volunteered as a firefighter in Sarajevo during the war, said he had seen armed people who did not appear to be local.
He described figures wearing mixed civilian and military clothing and claimed they were being guided around by locals.
The allegations were serious enough that Italian prosecutors later opened an investigation into claims that wealthy tourists had paid to shoot civilians during the siege.
Investigative writer Ezio Gavazzeni alleged that participants came from multiple Western countries, including Germany, France, England, and Italy.
In February, an 80-year-old former truck driver reportedly came under investigation as part of the Italian probe. He is said to face several counts of premeditated murder, though reports did not confirm whether he personally carried out killings.
New book claims a grim price list existed
The latest allegations come from Pay and Shoot, written by Croatian journalist Domagoj Margetic, per MSN.
Margetic claims his book is based in part on documents handed over by Bosnian intelligence officer Nedzad Ugljen, who investigated the alleged sniper tourism before he was killed in 1996.
According to reports on the book, the alleged documents described a shocking price system for foreign gunmen.
The claims say wealthy outsiders paid Serbian handlers around 80,000 Deutsche marks, roughly $53,000 at the time, to shoot middle-aged men and women.
The alleged price rose for younger female targets.
Young women were reportedly priced at 95,000 marks, while pregnant women were allegedly listed at 110,000 marks, or roughly $72,000 at the time.
The book also claims that some participants competed over their victims.
Margetic reportedly said: ‘Ugljen also wrote the foreigners competed to see who could shoot the most beautiful women.’
The allegations have sparked horror because they suggest civilians were not only being killed as part of a military campaign, but also allegedly selected, priced, and targeted for the entertainment of wealthy outsiders.
A European royal is alleged to have been involved
Among the most shocking claims in the book is the allegation that a European royal may have been among the foreign shooters.
Margetic says Ugljen spoke to members of the Bosnian Serb militia who allegedly hosted the foreign gunmen.
According to the author, several of them claimed a royal figure had traveled to the area by helicopter and stayed in Vogosca, near Sarajevo.
The alleged royal has not been publicly named.
Margetic claimed militia members told him the figure ‘wanted to shoot at children.’
The allegation remains unproven, but it has added another explosive element to the story and fueled renewed public interest in the Italian investigation.
Reports have suggested that foreigners allegedly came from several countries, including Italy, the US, Russia, Canada, Britain, Germany, Spain, and France.
Some were described as gun enthusiasts. Others were allegedly connected to far-right circles.
The idea that wealthy people may have paid to take part in killings during a real war has disturbed even experts familiar with the violence of the Balkans.
The alleged route into Sarajevo
According to Margetic, the alleged sniper tourism operation may not have originated in Serbia, but in Croatia.
He claims the idea involved Zvonko Horvatincic, who had worked with Yugoslav intelligence forces in Croatia before the wars of the 1990s.
Margetic said Horvatincic had previously arranged animal hunting trips for wealthy foreigners before the conflict. Once the siege of Sarajevo began, rich Italians allegedly asked whether they could travel there.
The book claims foreign shooters would arrive at Croatian ports such as Zadar or Split before being escorted to Serbian-controlled territory and then taken toward Sarajevo.
Margetic alleges that despite Croat and Serb forces often fighting during the war, intelligence and criminal networks maintained channels for smuggling, prisoner exchanges, and other unofficial operations.
That, he claims, made such trips possible.
These claims remain heavily contested and under investigation, but they have revived painful questions about what happened in Sarajevo beyond the already documented atrocities.
The most horrifying allegation
For survivors of the siege, the allegations are not abstract.
Sarajevo residents lived for years under sniper fire, with children, parents, workers, and elderly civilians all at risk every time they stepped outside.
The new claims suggest some outsiders may have viewed that suffering as entertainment.
According to Pay and Shoot, the alleged hunters did not merely pay to kill. They are claimed to have ranked victims by desirability, paid more for certain targets, and competed over who could commit the most horrifying acts.
And the most disturbing claim of all is that these tourists allegedly competed to kill the ‘most beautiful women.’
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