Belgrade, March 25 (RHC)-- Thousands of demonstrators gathered for an anti-NATO protest in Belgrade on Sunday, as the country marked the 20th anniversary of the U.S.-led bombing campaign against Yugoslavia in 1999.

The demonstrators held banners with slogans such as "Never in NATO," "NATO, get out of here" and "Stop NATO fascism."  They signed a petition calling on the government to remove a NATO office from Belgrade.

After rallying outside the General Staff building, which was partly destroyed during the 1999 NATO bombing campaign, the protesters held a march through the city.

Many observers believe that the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia 20 years ago -- carried out under a false pretext and in disregard of the United Nations -- paved the way for similar U.S.-led operations in Iraq, Libya and elsewhere -- with a death toll of over one million were killed. 

Back in 1999, the U.S. and its allies launched airstrikes in what was then Yugoslavia, after blaming Belgrade for “excessive and disproportionate use of force” in a conflict with an ethnic Albanian insurgency in Kosovo.

NATO warplanes carried out 900 sorties during the brutal 78-day bombing campaign, which officially claimed at least 758 civilian lives.  But Serbian sources insist the actual death toll was at least twice as high.