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Kosova Daily Report #1537, 98-08-30
Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1537
Prishtina, 30 August 1998
CONTENTS
[01] Serb Police Kills 8 Albanians, 7 Members of a Family, in Shushic& e
Poshtme Village of Istog Saturday
[02] Albanian Executed, Another Wounded, in Hands of Serb Police in
Suhareka
[03] Kosovar Albanian Detainee Dies from Torture in Serb Custody
[04] CDHRF Calls for International Investigation of Atrocities in Kosova
[05] Intermittent Attacks of Serb Troops in Lipjan and West Drenica
Villages on Sunday
[01] Serb Police Kills 8 Albanians, 7 Members of a Family, in Shushic& e
Poshtme Village of Istog Saturday
PRISHTINA, Aug 30 (KIC) - Serb paramilitary police killed yesterday
(Saturday) eight Albanians at Shushic& e Poshtme village in the
municipality of Istog, in northwestern Kosova, an area so far outside the
zones of armed conflicts in the war-torn Kosova.
The LDK sources in Istog said at 6:30 a.m. Saturday, the farmhouse of
Shaban Is& Salihaj was encircled by heavy Serb police forces in six
personnel carriers and three lorries and backed up by one tank and two
armored vehicles.
The police ordered that women and children vacate the houses.
In an exchange of fire that followed eight Albanians were killed, seven of
whom members of the Salihaj extended family: Is& (Hysen) Salihaj (76) and
his three sons, Shaban Salihaj (47), Milaim Salihaj (36), and Abedin
Salihaj (28); and Shaban's sons Hysen Salihaj (23), Arben Salihaj (19),
Hysni Salihaj (17). The eighth, Nazif Gashi (36), was a nephew of the
Salihaj family, originating from the Vojnik& village of the municipality of
Skenderaj ('Srbica').
In the police assault, which lasted till 11:00 hrs, seven houses belonging
to the Salihaj family compound were levelled to the ground, LDK sources
said.
Serb police, which withdrew from the village at 16:00 hrs, arrested Faik
Salihaj, a cousin of the killed person, whereas Fatime Salihaj, the wife of
the killed Shaban, was missing by the evening Saturday,
The bodies of the killed Albanians have been mutilated, sources said. "Eye-
witnesses said most of the killed were butchered and mutilated; they had
fractured limbs, eyes extracted, as well as vital organs cut off", the
Prishtina-based Koha Ditore reported Sunday.
The killed will be buried today (Sunday) in the village of Shushic&.
LDK sources said Shaban Is& Salihaj was a member of the Ushtria ^lirimtare
e Kosov&s (U^K) in the Drenica area.
[02] Albanian Executed, Another Wounded, in Hands of Serb Police in
Suhareka
PRISHTINA, Aug 30 (KIC) - One Albanian was shot dead and another wounded
near Suhareka on Saturday afternoon after having been apprehended by the
Serb troops, local sources said.
The head of the LDK Information Commission in Malisheva said four Albanians
from Pe^an village (municipality of Suhareka) who had been sheltered in a
Malisheva village, attempted yesterday afternoon to return to their native
village. But they were ambushed near Semetisht village and were forced at
gunpoint to walk in the direction of their village before being shot at.
One of them Ham&z Bytyqi (34) was killed, Naser Fetiu (22) was wounded,
whereas two others, Haxhi Fetiu and Shefki Fetiu made a narrow escape. The
three survivors lay down on the ground which made the police think they
were all killed, he said.
Isuf Btytyqi also said that a small girl from the Dob&rdolan village died
in the fields of Shkoza village where the family had been camping out for
ten days now.
[03] Kosovar Albanian Detainee Dies from Torture in Serb Custody
PRISHTINA, Aug 30 (KIC) - A 47-year-old Albanian, Bilall Shala, resident of
Saraisht& village of Ferizaj ('Urosevac'), died from torture in Serb
custody Saturday evening at around 23:00 hrs, the LDK chaper in Ferizaj
said.
The now late Bilall Shala, caretaker with local school at Dremnjak village
was being held in Serb police custody in Ferizaj since last Friday. He was
arrested on the street in Ferizaj together with his son Agron Shala (19)
who was released later in the day after having been tortured brutally in
the premises of Serb security in the town.
Zenel Shala, a brother to the killed Albanian, said he has learned that the
body of Bilall was taken to the Prishtina hospital morgue today.
Bilall Shala is the fourth Kosovar Albanian who died of torture in the
hands of Serb security during the last month.
[04] CDHRF Calls for International Investigation of Atrocities in Kosova
Including the alleged execution of Serbs in Kle^ka PRISHTINA, Aug 30 (KIC) -
The major Kosovar human rights group, the Prishtina-based Council for the
Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) has written today (Sunday) to
the Hague Tribunal for War Crimes in Former Yugoslavia asking for the
formation of an international team of forensic and pathologist to
investigate the alleged execution of Serbs in the village of Kle^ka, but
also cases of executions of Albanians in the villages of Prekaz, Likoshan,
^irez, Poklek i Ri, Lybeniq, and elsewhere, the Kosova Information Center
(KIC) has learned.
The CDHRF was prompted to renew its calls for such investigations in Kosova
in the wake of the propaganda machinery launched by the Serb regime after
the discovery of the site of the alleged execution of 22 Serbs by the
Kosova Liberation Army (U^K) in Kle^ka.
The news of the alleged execution came only a day after an 11- member
Albanian family (surnamed Asllani), of whom eight children, were targeted
and killed by a Serb tank shell in the Shtime area.
Sixteen Albanians, including an infant and a four-year-old boy, were killed
by Serb fire in Senik mountains, where thousands of Albanians had sought
safety after having been bombed out of their villages late last week.
The CDHRF condemns crimes from whatever quarter they are committed, and in
case the allegations are proven in the Kle^ka case, those responsible
should be brought to trial, the letter sent to the Hague Tribunal stresses,
the KIC has learned.
[05] Intermittent Attacks of Serb Troops in Lipjan and West Drenica
Villages on Sunday
PRISHTINA, Aug 30 (KIC) - Albanian communities in Lipjan municipality and
the west Drenica region (municipality of Gllogovc) came under a renewed
Serb troops fire today (Sunday) morning, local sources reported.
Over a dozen villages west of Lipjan - Vershec, Qulaga, Leletiq, Mirena,
Fushtica, Sankovc, Baica, Shala, Krojmir, Pjetershic&, Zborc, and the
mining town of Magura - have been attacked by the Serb forces during the
whole course of last week.
The LDK Information Commission in Lipjan said the Serb attacks this morning
were of a lower intensity to those in the past days. Yet, the Commission
described the humanitarian situation in the area as appalling. Thousands of
uprooted persons have still been camping out in the open, fearing to return
to their homes sealed off by Serb troops.
The LDK said the whereabouts of three Albanians, arrested by the Serbian
police last week, are still unknown. Florim Gashi, Burim Gashi, Ilaz
Dugolli, Asllan Gashi, Hajdin Gashi, Ms Fazile Gashi were arrested last
Thursday in Magura where they were initially held in the local police
station before being transferred to Shtime, Lipjan and Ferizaj.
Florim Gashi, Burim Gashi, Ilaz Dugolli are being held to in the hands of
the Serb police while the rest were released after having been tortured
badly.
Kosova Information Center
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