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Kosova Daily Report #1561, 98-09-23
Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1561
Prishtina, 23 September 1998
First Edition: 16:30 CET
Second Edition: 18:00 CET
CONTENTS
[01] Serb Forces Kill at Least 11 Albanians, Wound 20 Others in Three
Villages of Mitrovica
[02] Serb Offensive against Drenica Villages Continues Unabated
[03] Around 20,000 Displaced Albanians in the Meadows and Mountains of
Vu^ak
[04] Serb Police Rounds Up 100 Albanian Young Men in Mitrovica
[05] Four Villages of Vushtrri Shelled by Serb Forces Today
[06] Two More Killed Albanians Found in Dobratin Village
[07] Many Albanians Are Being Held Captive in Plant in Gllogovc, Witness
Claims
[08] Albanian Arrested While Taking Wounded Woman to Hospital
[09] At Least Three Villages of Gllogovc Shelled by Serb Troops Wednesday
Morning
[10] At Least Nine Civilians Wounded in Sibovc, Obiliq, Tuesday
[11] Armed Serb Civilians Hold Key Positions Around Village Near Mitrovica
[12] Kosovar Delegation, Detained for Two days by the U^K, Released
[01] Serb Forces Kill at Least 11 Albanians, Wound 20 Others in Three
Villages of Mitrovica
PRISHTINA, Sept 23 (KIC) - At least 11 Albanian civilians were killed and
around 20 others wounded during the shelling of Mitrovica villages by Serb
military and police forces yesterday (Tuesday), the LDK chapter in
Mitrovica said.
In the village of V&rnic&, Serb forces killed three Albanians, Nysret
Ferati (60), Adem Azemi (38), and Sali Sejdiu (26).
In the village of Pir^, Serb forces killed Selim Sagaqi (65), and three
other Albanians, whose names have not been made known yet.
The LDK chapter in Mitrovica said Serb military and police forces killed
Sheremet Sheremeti (40), Rrahim Mehmeti (60), and two other civilians in
the village of Oshlan. The identity of the last two ones has not yet been
established.
Reports said Serb troops continued shelling the village of Oshlan today,
whereas the villages of Vaganic& e Ep&rme, V&rnic& and Pir^ were first
looted then burned completely by Serb forces.
[02] Serb Offensive against Drenica Villages Continues Unabated
Tens of thousands of Albanian refugees in the ^i^avica mountains PRISHTINA,
Sept 23 (KIC) - Serbian forces resumed today their heavy attack launched
yesterday morning, which went throughout the day and overnight, against the
villages in two municipalities, Skenderaj ('Srbica') and Gllogovc, in the
region of Drenica.
Local LDK sources in Skenderaj said early in the morning today Serb forces
were burning the villages of Polluzh& and Shtutic&, whereas at 6 a.m.
shelling in the direction of Baks and Qirez, where tens of thousand of
refugees had been camping out, as well as in the direction of Morin& and
Rezall& villages.
Sources told the KIC early in the afternoon today Serb forces had entered
the villages of Gllavotin, Bivolak and Be^uk, in the municipality of
Vushtrri ('Vucitrn'). Be^uk is inside the ^i^avica mountains area.
^i^avica is crammed with refugees, sources said, adding that the villages
at the foot of ^i^avica were being shelled by Serb troops, including
Gradica.
Serb shells have been landing in the mountains close to the area where tens
of thousands of refugees have been camping, having been driven from their
villages.
The population has fled from the village of Qirez, sources said, adding
that the entire population is under a deadly siege.
[03] Around 20,000 Displaced Albanians in the Meadows and Mountains of
Vu^ak
PRISHTINA, Sept 23 (KIC) - Yesterday's fierce Serb military offensive
against tens of Albanian villages in several municipalities of Kosova has
resulted in tens of thousands of people displaced and living rough in the
open.
LDK sources in Klina said around 20,000 residents of the Skenderaj and
Gllogovc villages who were driven from their homes yesterday have been
camping out in the meadows and mountainous forests of Vu^ak.
Most of the displaced people are women, children and elderly, among whom
many sick, sources said.
[04] Serb Police Rounds Up 100 Albanian Young Men in Mitrovica
PRISHTINA, Sept 23 (KIC) - The Serb police arrested today (Wednesday) in
Mitrovica around 100 Albanians, local sources said.
The Albanians, by and large young men and teenagers, were rounded up at the
local railway station in Mitrovica, when at around 13:00 hrs heavy Serb
police forces clamped down on a train bound for Fush&-Kosova (Kosovo
Polje).
The LDK chapter in Mitrovica said the Albanian detainees were taken to the
Serb police station in the town.
By early afternoon today, no other details surrounding this incident have
been made available.
[05] Four Villages of Vushtrri Shelled by Serb Forces Today
PRISHTINA, Sept 23 (KIC) - Today, Serbian forces resumed shelling a number
of villages in the municipality of Vushtrri, local sources said. The area
came under Serb military and paramilitary forces's attack yesterday, too.
Since early in the morning, the villages of Bivolak, Strofc, Zhilivod& and
Be^uk have been under Serb attack.
Just before seven o'clock in the morning, Serb forces paraded through the
town center in Vushtrri.
Gunfire was heard in the town late evening on Tuesday.
LDK sources reported Tafil Azemi (42), resident of Novolan village of
Vushtrri, died Tuesday while fleeing his home.
He had been operated on in the Mitrovica hospital, from which he was
discharged on Monday, still in a bad health condition. He could not survive
a tractor journey and the flight from home, sources said.
[06] Two More Killed Albanians Found in Dobratin Village
20 Albanians killed by Serb forces last week in northern Llapi region
PRISHTINA, Sept 23 (KIC) - The bodies of two local Albanians killed last
week by Serbian forces in Dobratin village of Podujeva were found today
(Wednesday).
LDK sources said Islam Ali Rekaliu (26) and Selim Sabedin Rekaliu (25) were
found killed in the forests up their family compound.
Their bodies were reported mutilated.
They had been probabbly killed while fleeing their homes.
Serb forces had been deployed in Dobratin and launched an attack there on
Tuesday last week, targetIng this village as well as Ka^anoll and the Shal&
e Bajgor&s region.
Six Albanians were found burned in the village of Dobratin.
At least twenty Albanians are now known to have been killed by Serb troops
during the three-day Serb offensive in two villages in the Llapi area last
week.
[07] Many Albanians Are Being Held Captive in Plant in Gllogovc, Witness
Claims
PRISHTINA, Sept 23 (KIC) - Witnesses have told the local LDK chapter in
Vushtrri ('Vicitrn') that a large number of Albanians are being held in the
compounds of the Ferrous-Nickel "Ferronikeli" plant, near the town of
Gllogovc. The LDK did not specify the number of people reported or presumed
being held captive.
An eye-witness, who said he managed to escape from the plant yesterday,
claimed that the captives were subjected to brutal torture in the hands of
the Serb troops. He named one Albanian, Ram& Asllani (50) from Mak&rmal
village, whom he knew being one of the detainees.
The "Ferronikeli" compounds, located only a couple kilometers south of the
town of Gllogovc, has been for months turned into a huge Serb forces' base,
from where the outlying Albanian communities have been repeatedly
attacked.
Local human rights activists in Gllogovc have claimed they suspected that
ten Albanians rounded up by Serb troops in the nearby Poklek village in
June were cremated in the furnaces of the factory.
[08] Albanian Arrested While Taking Wounded Woman to Hospital
PRISHTINA, Sept 23 (KIC) - A 26-year-old Albanian, Migjen Sadiku (26),
resident of Sibovc village near Obiliq, has been reported in Serb police
since Tuesday morning.
Sources in Obiliq, a town 8 km north-west of Prishtina, said Migjen Sadiku
was driving on tractor a wounded neighbor, Ms Habibe Shaljani, whom she was
taking to hospital.
At least nine Albanians were wounded in Sibovc on Tuesday, when the village
and other villages north-west of Prishtina came under a fierce Serb
attack.
[09] At Least Three Villages of Gllogovc Shelled by Serb Troops Wednesday
Morning
PRISHTINA, Sept 23 (KIC) - The village of Baic&, Verboc and Dobroshec came
under renewed Serb fire today (Wednesday) morning, local sources told the
KIC.
These three villages, along with at least 15 others at the ^i^avica
mountain foot in central and north-west Kosova, were targeted by a huge
Serb offensive since Tuesday morning.
The LDK Information Commission in Gllogovc said Serb troops advanced
towards the village of Baica today morning, setting farmhouses ablaze.
During long hours of brutal attacks yesterday, Serb burned scores of houses
in other villages of Gllogovc, Xhem& Binaku, head of the local Information
Commission said. He named the villages of Gllavotin, ^ikatov&, T&stenik and
Verboc, where the Serb arson campaign and pillaging of valuables and
domestic appliances was focused on Wednesday.
Mr. Binaku said the population of these villages has been on the run since
Tuesday morning. Most of them spent the night in the open.
A resident of T&rstenik said Serb forces attacked the village at dawn, when
everybody was still asleep. "It was a terrible panic.
All we could do was run towards the hills", she said.
[10] At Least Nine Civilians Wounded in Sibovc, Obiliq, Tuesday
PRISHTINA, Sept 23 (KIC) - At least nine Albanians, of whom five women and
three teenagers, were wounded in Sibovc village near Obiliq on Tuesday,
when the village and a vast area north-west of Prishtina was pounded with
Serb artillery fire.
In an account today morning, the LDK chapter in Obiliq said it had learned
the 7 Albanians wounded in Sibovc yesterday were. The identity of two women
was not made known.
The following Albanians were wounded in Sibovc on Tuesday: Ms Emine
Shaljani (75), Abdullah Shaljani (40), Ms Habibe Shaljani (37), Ms Fikrije
Shaljani (15), Ramadan Shaljani (15), Avni Shaljani (16), and Amir Shaljani
(14).
The LDK said it believed other persons were wounded in the area.
It added that the Serb infantry entered today (Wednesday) into the villages
of Lajthisht& (Leskosic), Sibovc and Hamidi, and that they have embarked on
a wide-scale campaign of looting, destroying and burning property and
houses of local Albanians, who fled homes yesterday in the wake of the Serb
onslaught.
[11] Armed Serb Civilians Hold Key Positions Around Village Near Mitrovica
PRISHTINA, Sept 23 (KIC) - Since Tuesday morning, armed Serb civilians,
mainly with sniper guns, have been stationed in key positions along the
Sintica river banks, near K^i^ i Madh.
The LDK chapter in Mitrovica said it could not learn what the Serbs were
intent on, noting only that there has been a stepped up movement of both
Serb troops and armed civilians in the town itself.
Serb police and civilians broke into the bakery owned by an Albanian, Binak
Kabashi, at Shipol suburb of Mitrovica yesterday.
They took away a TV set, a satellite receiver and other appliances, the
owner of the bakery said.
Meanwhile, sources in Mitrovica said the Serb police has arrested several
Albanians in the street of the town over the past two day.
[12] Kosovar Delegation, Detained for Two days by the U^K, Released
Head of delegation, Gjergj Dedaj, holds press conference in Prishtina
Wednesday afternoon
PRISHTINA, Sept (KIC) - 13 members of a delegation of representatives of
the Parliament of the Republic of Kosova and representatives of the
political parties, who were detained by members of the U^K on Sunday, were
released on Tuesday.
Gjergj Dedaj, vice-president of the Parliament of the Republic of Kosova,
Agim Krasniqi, member of the presidency of the LDK (Democratic League of
Kosova), Professor Jusuf Telaku, an MP from the LDK, Mehdi Bardhi, member
of the LDK General Council, Veli Byty^i, vice-chairman of the PSHDK
(Christian Democrats), and Kurtesh Devaja and Simon Augustini, members of
the PSHDK presidency, Sokol Blakaj, Halim Mujku, and Hasim D&rmaku,
members of the presidency of the PLK (Liberal Party), Milaim Kadriu,
chairman, and Musa Binakaj, vice-chairman of the PPSH (Albanian Popular
Party), and Qaush Bajrushi, chairman of a Trade Unions branch, were in the
delegation that was detained.
There were some 30 people in the convoy visiting Qirez village of Skenderaj
('Srbica') on Sunday, including members of the press.
Qirez was a village where thousands of displaced Albanian were camping out,
after having been driven from their homes elsewhere in Drenica.
In a press conference in Prishtina Wednesday afternoon, after their return
to the capital, Mr. Gjergj Dedaj, vice-president of the Parliament of
Kosova, said they were arrested on Sunday after concluding a meeting with
the representative of the village of Qirez. "They (members of the U^K) came
to the office, told the women members of the delegation and journalists to
leave, and said we were arrested", Dedaj said.
"We were taken away from Qirez, to an unknown location", the deputy-
president of the Parliament said, adding that "their (U^K) behaviour was
correct".
The U^K questioned the delegation members about their political activities,
"which are familiar to all", Dedaj said.
He said Tuesday morning, after the beginning of the Serb offensive against
the Drenica villages, the Kosovar delegation was escorted by the U^K to the
village of Krasmirofc, and then to a hamlet in the ^i^avica mountains,
where they spent the night and from where they contacted the Committee of
International red Cross and the Kosova Diplomatic Observer Mission (KDOM)
in Kosova.
Gjergj Dedaj said he saw yesterday (Tuesday), passing through the village
of Qirez, people who were on the move, not knowing where to go in a bid to
escape from an impending Serb attack.
In his press conference, Dedaj thanked the ICRC and KDOM representatives,
as well as the U^K members who had escorted abd taken care of them.
He took a number of questions.
Why did they detain you, what was their motive for this move? - a
questioner asked. They (U^K) said we had not sought and received permission
for the visit, Dedaj said. We do not ask for such permission from anyone,
nor there is any need for this as long as there is no restriction of
movement declared.
Have you changed your stand on the U^K after all this?, another questioned
asked.
The views of our political parties are well-known: the pursuit of a
political solution to the Kosova issue, Gjergj Dedaj said. He concluded,
though, that "all states, inlcuding Kosova, have the right to have their
armed forces, police and military, which operate within the legal and
legitimate institutions".
Kosova Information Center
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