A man has claimed he was once offered the opportunity to kill civilians on a "human safari".
Andrew Drury, a construction boss-turned-documentary-maker from the UK, revealed in an interview with The Sun that he declined the invitation to pull the trigger, but alleges that others didn’t hesitate.
“I visited the frontline in Kirkuk, Iraq, when I was offered the chance to have a shot by a sniper," he said. “I wouldn’t even look into the scope. I couldn’t take another human life, I couldn’t even kill an animal.”
His disturbing story comes as prosecutors in Milan launch a criminal investigation into claims that foreigners shelled out up to $91,000 to take part in killings during the Bosnian War, specifically during the Siege of Sarajevo.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has even been named in accusations, though he strongly denies any involvement.
The horrified dad-of-four says he was offered a "human safari kill shot" that people would allegedly pay $90k for. Credit: Andrew Drury / Instagram
According to Drury, who has spent two decades exploring active war zones such as Chechnya, Afghanistan, and Somalia, the sniper tourism trade stretches far beyond Bosnia.
He said the most direct offer came while visiting the frontline in Kirkuk, Iraq, and described these deadly opportunities as “not dark tourism, it’s murder.”
Sniper Alley, Sarajevo
The allegations of sniper tourism in Sarajevo date back to the city’s siege between 1992 and 1996, a conflict that claimed more than 10,000 lives, including children.
The city’s central roads, including Ulica Zmaja od Bosne and Meša Selimović Boulevard, became known as “Sniper Alley,” where civilians risked death simply crossing the street.
A 2022 documentary, Sarajevo Safari, reignited attention around the practice, alleging that rich individuals, some with far-right ties, were transported by Bosnian Serb militias to sniper positions in the hills to shoot civilians, many for sport.
Italian journalist Ezio Gavazzeni, who filed a 17-page legal complaint, claimed that a “price list” existed, ranking victims by perceived value.
“Children cost more, then men, preferably in uniform and armed, women, and finally old people, who could be killed for free,” he stated, cited by Daily Mail.
Wealthy tourists are accused of travelling to Sarajevo for 'sniper tourism' during its four-year siege in the 1990s. Credit: Patrick Robert - Corbis / Getty
Reports suggest that tourists from Italy, Russia, and the US paid between $91,000 and $115,000 for these sniper experiences, per The Telegraph.
One former US Marine testified that a man he saw wielded a rifle “more suited to wild boar hunting in the Black Forest than to urban combat in the Balkans,” describing the shooter as a “novice.”
The trips, allegedly orchestrated by Bosnian Serb forces under the leadership of Radovan Karadžić, later convicted of genocide, reportedly offered these so-called hunters little to no military experience.
Survivors told filmmakers they witnessed foreigners firing at civilians, while former intelligence officers say Italian agencies knew of the activity as early as 1993 but took no action.
Tourists paid extra to kill children. Credit: Derek Hudson / Getty
Investigation finally underway
Italy’s Carabinieri police and the Milan prosecutor’s office are now working alongside the Bosnian government to identify and prosecute anyone involved.
“We are eager to uncover the truth about such a cruel matter and settle accounts with the past,” said Dag Dumrukcic, the Bosnian consul in Milan.
Former Sarajevo mayor Benjamina Karic and retired Italian magistrate Guido Salvini are also supporting the investigation.
Meanwhile, Drury says he dodged bullets more than once in war zones, including being shot at in Kirkuk and running afoul of Russian authorities while attempting to enter Chechnya.
“You had people travelling to Iraq and joining the Peshmerga,” he noted. “It could be classed that they were on holiday, although they joined and fought against Isis. Was that tourism? They weren’t soldiers...”
He remains appalled by what he’s seen. “It’s lunacy,” he said. “People are doing it all the time.”