Kosova Daily Report #1568, 98-09-30

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From: Kosova Information Center <http://www.kosova.com/>

Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1568
Prishtina, 30 September 1998

CONTENTS

[01] Rugova Declares Thursday a Day of National Mourning

[02] Mine Explodes, Albanian Doctor Dies, Three Other Wounded in Obri e Ep&rme

[03] Serb Resume Shelling Obri e Ep&rme Village in Drenica

[04] The Bodies of 9 Slain Albanians in Gllogovc Area Identified

[05] Foreign Reporter on Another Serb Atrocity in Malisheva Villages Last Weekend

[06] Mutilated Bodies of Five Albanians Found in Suhareka

[07] Albanian Found Killed in Shipitull& Village of Obiliq

[08] One Albanian Killed, Two Wounded in Minefield, in Petrov& Village of Shtimje

[09] Police Stages Shooting Incident to Turn Back Visiting Observers

[10] Many Civilian Albanians Suspected Killed and Wounded in Jezerc, Ferizaj

[11] Village of Vasilev& Has Been Levelled to the Ground, Resident Claims

[12] 'Leave or See Yourselves Burning Together with Your Homes', Police Tells Villagers

[13] Twenty Suhareka Albanians, Tortured by Serbs, in Prizren Hospital

[14] Serb Troops Crackdown on Refugee Camping Sites

[01] Rugova Declares Thursday a Day of National Mourning

[02] Mine Explodes, Albanian Doctor Dies, Three Other Wounded in Obri e Ep&rme

The ICRC press representative in Prishtina said the accident occurred at 9:30 hrs when one of the two cars of this organization ran into an explosive device. The first aid was given to the four wounded by personnel travelling with the other car which was not affected by the explosion.

They were in the area to offer assistance to the population in this part of the world, the ICRC spokesman said.

The shocking news on the death of Dr. Robaj, father of two, was confirmed by Ms Beatrice Weber, head of the ICRC, who was with the wounded in the hospital.

Prof. Alush Gashi, a health and humanitarian policies advisor to the President Rugova of Kosova, said he was shocked by the news on the accident "caused by mines laid down by Serb forces after their massacre in Obri village of Drenica".

Prof. Gashi asked for international independent investigations on the accident.

Pregnant women and infants are being killed in Serb massacres in Kosova, but also health personnel, "as a punishment for their assistance to the wounded Albanians", Prof. Alush Gashi, a university medical professor said in a statement today.

[03] Serb Resume Shelling Obri e Ep&rme Village in Drenica

PRISHTINA, Sept 30 (KIC) - At 9:30 in the morning today (Wednesday), Serb forces positioned in Likoc village resumed a heavy shelling the village of Obri e Ep&rme, Murat Musliu, a local human rights activist in Skenderaj ('Srbica') told the KIC.

There has been no immediate word on casualties.

Seventeen more Serb armored vehicles arrived in Likoca last night, local sources said.

Meanwhile, the local Human Rights Council said another Albanian massacred by Serb forces was found in Obri e Ep&rme today. Habib Deliu, was found in the fields not far from his house.

The Council said Serb police has murdered Driton Hysenaj (14) in Likoc.

[04] The Bodies of 9 Slain Albanians in Gllogovc Area Identified

The CDHRF said the mutilated bodies of Liman Haki Krasniqi (1967), Shefqet Haki Krasniqi (1965), Sk&nder Hyd& Krasniqi (1970) and Ali Met& Krasniqi (1818), who was found burned in his house at Negroc village of Gllogovc.

The bodies of Mehdi Syl& Morina (1953), resident of Gjergjica of Malisheva, Ilaz Maliq Javori (1953), resident of Llazica of Malisheva, and Ramadan Muleta (1954), Bashkim Tahir Muleta (27) and Besnik Rexhep Muleta (24), all three from Korrotica village of Gllogovc, have been identified too. The three Muletas were reportedly killed on Sunday near a limestone mine in Korrotica. The family told KIC they could not collect the bodies because of the Serb police presence in the area.

The CDHRF said Serb forces have killed three Albanians from Gllarev& village of Klin&s, as well as another at Vu^ak village.

Their names have not been made known.

Serb forces have wounded Xhevat Shaban Tha^i, resident of Llapushnik village of Gllogovc.

Local CDHRF activists have been working hard on the ground to learn about the location of other Albanians suspected massacred by Serb forces.

[05] Foreign Reporter on Another Serb Atrocity in Malisheva Villages Last Weekend

A foreign reporter, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he toured the area and the village of Pllo^ica and Gollubovc today (Wednesday) where he saw some of the victims of Serb atrocities and a site where 12-13 Albanians were executed last Saturday.

2In the hills above Pllo^ica, there are around 2,000 displaced persons, many of them from surrounding hamlets, as the village has a smaller population than that, he said. According to accounts of IDP's last Friday the police shot dead a 74-old-man, Hazir Maloku.

The late elderly man, alongside with several other men, tried to get down to the village an fetch some food for his family camping out in the hills. Serb troops opened fire on the men. Others could run away and return to the hills, whereas Hazir Maloku was killed.

On Monday, Serb troops entered into Pllo^ica, burned all the houses down, and killed the livestock.

The reporter quoted accounts of local residents of another village, Gollubovc, where the Serbs executed a dozen men last weekend and burned at least one.

Last Saturday, at around 10 a.m., Serb forces surrounded a group of around 500 IDP's in a field near Gollubovc. The Serbs then picked 12-13 men, aged between 17 and 50, who were forced to stand against a wooden fence and were executed, the reporter quoted local residents as saying. He said he saw at that site many casings of large-caliber guns and automatic rifles. He showed a casing which seemed to be of a 21 mm machine-gun.

The reporter said he saw 8 fresh graves there. The local residents said they were ready to open one or more and show him the bodies, but he refused because, as he said, he had to return back.

"In the same village I saw the corpse of a man, whom the residents said were going to bury this afternoon", the reporter said. The man was apparently burned with an unknown acid, poured over his body from the knees and upwards. The villagers named him as Ramadan Hoxha, 37, the reporter said, who confirmed that he had seen burned land near the forest where he was killed.

"I saw the body of another man with his throat slit", the reporter said. Villagers identified him as Kajtaz Maloku, but they could not say how and when he was killed noting only they had found his dead body near the village. He was also to be buried today afternoon, the reporter said.

The reporter spoke of another wounded Albanian whom he saw being taken somewhere for treatment in a horse-drawn cart. The man had wounds caused by large-caliber bullets at his lower part of stomach. In addition, his hands were black, apparently after having had made fingers prints in a police station, the reporter concluded. The wounded man was later picked by a team of the Doctors of the World, said the reporter who insisted not to have his name mentioned.

Sources in Malisheva reported during the past weekend about a dozen Albanians killed in the villages in the area and around Pllo^ica village.

[06] Mutilated Bodies of Five Albanians Found in Suhareka

The bodies of Ali Buzhala (55), Murat Kokollari (55), and Adem Buzhala (58), were found in their village of residence in Budakova today morning. The dead body of another still unidentified man was found in the village.

At another village, at Mushitisht, the local residents found today the dead body of 29-year-old Albanian Bajram Byty^i. Another man Bedri Halitjaha (1982), resident of the same village was found wounded and in a life- threatening condition.

Over a dozen villages in south-west Kosova straddling a triangle between Shtime, Ferizaj and Suhareka came under Serb fire on Sunday morning. Local sources have so far reported about at least half a dozen killed Albanians in the area. They fear that the casualty figures may be much higher but it is impossible to confirm still as the ares is kept inside sealed off by the Serb troops and the population who fled the villages in the midst the crack down has not returned to their home, most of them torched or destroyed.

[07] Albanian Found Killed in Shipitull& Village of Obiliq

LDK sources in Obiliq said during their attack in Shipitull&, Serb forces burned and looted many houses. They have killed livestock and burned all the cattle food.

Serb forces are still stationed at a location called "K&rshi i Grabocit" (the Grabovc rock).

[08] One Albanian Killed, Two Wounded in Minefield, in Petrov& Village of Shtimje

[09] Police Stages Shooting Incident to Turn Back Visiting Observers

The delegation of observers was thus prevented from visiting the attacked and burned villages during the Serb attacks of the past three days.

[10] Many Civilian Albanians Suspected Killed and Wounded in Jezerc, Ferizaj

While withdrawing, Serb military and polcie troops raided many Albanian houses, smashed many of them, and ill-treated many Albanian residents.

Serb forces have been burning today Albanian houses in two villages, Nerodime e Ep&rme and Nerodime e Poshtme, local sources said.

They said a number of civilian Albanians are suspected killed and wounded by Serb forces at Jezerc village. It has been impossible to know something more about this, because the village has been sealed off by Serb forces.

In the past two days, many Albanians, mostly women and children, have arrived in the town of Ferizaj, seeking shelter.

[11] Village of Vasilev& Has Been Levelled to the Ground, Resident Claims

He said that during those two days, Serb forces killed seven civilian Albanians between the villages of Vasilev& and Poklek i Vjet&r, among whom Sadri Mu^olli and Naim Kluna from Pokleku i Vjet&r.

Besides burning the farmhouses, Serb forces have killed hundreds of heads of livestock.

Half of the Albanian houses have been looted and burned in the village of Poklek i Vjet&r. The wheat mill alone, which was burned by Serb forces, amounts to one million DM, the source said.

[12] 'Leave or See Yourselves Burning Together with Your Homes', Police Tells Villagers

A local resident of Bitia, Muhabi Ademi, told the KIC today morning the Serb troops who had cracked down on the village earlier in the day on Tuesday, set ablaze at least 8 farmhouses of local Albanians. The entire population, except a 90-year-old woman, fled the village yesterday afternoon after repeated threats by Serb troops.

A foreign reporter who spoke on condition of anonymity told the KIC today morning he witnessed himself Serb forces' operations in Bitia village on Tuesday.

Serb police ordered the local Albanians to leave the village at once or else they would see themselves burning together with their homes, the reporter said.

The LDK chapter in Sht&rpca reported Tuesday morning about a Serb crackdown on the residents of Bitia and Viqa. The LDK named the following Albanians rounded up by Serb police after they had their homes raided: Haki Bakiu, Ilmi Bakiu, Rexhep Bislimi, Mehmet Bislimi, Agron Bislimi, Agim Bislimi, Imri Zenuni, Afrim Ahmeti, Fakir Hamiti, Avni Hamiti, Heset Ka^iku, Nysret Bakiu, Miftar Bakiu, Ismajl Bakiu, Fadil Jakupi, Naim Murati and Bedri Izeti.

[13] Twenty Suhareka Albanians, Tortured by Serbs, in Prizren Hospital

The LDK chapter in Prizren said many of the Albanians treated from wounds sustained in the hands of the Serb police are in grave health condition.

[14] Serb Troops Crackdown on Refugee Camping Sites

Sources in Suhareka said the Serb troops have cracked down on several camping sites of the IDPs dispersing them forcefully or compelling them to return to their homes. Many of them have been seen heading for the town of Prizren today.

Local organizations in Prizren said that the town of Prizren has been swelled by over 45 thousand refugees from war-torn area in the border area as well as from the neighboring municipalities of Suhareke, Rahovec and Malisheva.

Witnesses told KIC that three newborn babies have died shortly after being born in two camping sites near Suhareka villages.

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