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Kosova Daily Report #1648, 98-12-27

Kosovo Information Center: Kosova Daily Report Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1648
Prishtina, 27 December 1998

First Edition: 13:30 CET
Second Edition: 16:30 CET

CONTENTS

  • [01] Serb Forces Renew Heavy Attack, Shell Obran^& and Llapashtic& Villages Sunday
  • [02] Serb in Obran^& Was Killed by U^K on Saturday
  • [03] Serbian Shelling Stops, Grave Consequences Feared in Podujeva Area
  • [04] Schoolteacher, Seriously Wounded in Obran^&, In Critical Condition
  • [06] President Rugova's Aid Calls for NATO Intervention in Kosova
  • [06] Kosova Government Deplores "Brutal Offensive Carried out by FRY- Serb Forces' in Llapi Region of Kosova

  • [01] Serb Forces Renew Heavy Attack, Shell Obran^& and Llapashtic& Villages Sunday

    Police holds the town of Podujeva under a severe grip; thousands of Albanians have fled their homes in villages; the bodies of a number of Albanians killed on Thursday found today...

    PRISHTINA, Dec 27 (KIC) - Heavy Serbian forces backed up by tanks and artillery pieces renewed their attack today (Sunday) against the villages of Obran^& and Llapashtic& villages, a couple kilometres west of the town of Podujeva in northeastern Kosova.

    Serbian forces launched a sweeping attack at around 9 o'clock in the morning today.

    At noon and early in the afternoon, the village of Obran^& was being reported shelled by a great number of Serb military tanks deployed along the Podujeva - Peran roadway, a couple of kilometres long.

    Both Obran^& and Llapashtic& villages are being shelled also by Serb army tanks deployed earlier in the compounds of the Brick Factory in Podujeva.

    Eye-witnesses said columns of smoke are billowing from the village of Obran^&.

    In the suburbs of Obran^& and the outskirts of Podujeva leading towards Llapashtic&, Serb forces have been reported raiding and looting Albanian houses.

    Thousands of Albanians - mainly women, children and the elderly - have fled the villages of Obran^&, Llapashtic&, Gllamnik, Sekira^&, Buric&, Konushec and two Podujeva neighborhoods. They have sought refuge mainly in the northern villages of Bradash and Katunisht& ('Velika Reka') as well as southward, in Majac, Lup^ and other outlying villages. The new refugees, who had to flee their homes in freezing temperatures amidst the unfolding Serb offensive in the past four days, are said to be in desperate need of emergency aid.

    Last night, the U^K units found the body of Ajvaz Potera (43) in his native village of Llapashtic& e Ul&t. He was a mentally- retarded man, and was killed during the Serb offensive against the village.

    Two U^K soldiers, killed on Thursday, were found today in Obran^& village.

    An eye-witness from Podujeva said two bodies remained lying near the farmhouse of Bajrush Murati, near the 'Tabet e Llapashtic&s'.

    They could not be collected because the area was sniped by Serbian forces.

    A critical situation has been reported prevailing today in Podujeva, a town with 20,000 inhabitants, 30 km north of capital Prishtina.

    Reports said four Serb police officers with a Toyota-made car with license plates PR: 676-79 distributed Saturday afternoon (around 14:00 hrs) weapons to Serb civilians in two neighborhoods in Podujeva. The LDK Information Commission in Podujeva said the weapons were distributed to Serbs in the "25 May" and "Divizioni 22" streets.

    Meanwhile, two heavy detonations were reported heard in the town of Podujeva today morning. There has been no immediate word on the consequences.

    The town streets are virtually empty, with very few people daring to go out. Serb snipers have been for days now on top of community buildings, while Serb forces roam the streets, holding Albanian houses at gun-point.

    An eye-witness said the local Serb civilian population has been fleeing the town of Podujeva.

    [02] Serb in Obran^& Was Killed by U^K on Saturday

    Milovan Radojevic had opened fire and wounded an U^K fighter, local U^K commander says

    PRISHTINA, Dec 27 (KIC) - The local Serb, Milovan Radojevic (65), who was killed in Obran^& village of Podujeva on Saturday, had opened fire and wounded an U^K (Kosova Liberation Army) fighter, the U^K commander for the Operative Zone of Llapi region in northern Kosova told the Koha Ditore newspaper on Sunday.

    "The father (Milan Radojevic) and his son, certainly aided by their neighbors, opened fire from their house in Obran^&", the U^K commander known as 'Remi', said. "Our soldiers asked them to surrender, and two of them gave in, and they have been duly treated as war prisoners, whereas he (Milan) who refused to do so was killed" by the U^K.

    The killed Serb had opened fire and "lightly wounded" an U^K fighter, Remi said, adding that the Serb attacker's house had been raided then, and weapons seized there by the U^K.

    Serbian military and police forces had made only minor encroachments in U^K positions in the Podujeva area during Thursday's offensive, Remi said. Five Serb tanks remain in the area, which they "will be collected [by Serbs] with the mediation of the international community tomorrow (Sunday)", the U^K commander said.

    At least 10 Albanians, nine of whom civilians, were killed by Serbian forces on Thursday.

    [03] Serbian Shelling Stops, Grave Consequences Feared in Podujeva Area

    Serbian forces machine-gunned a number of Albanian houses in Podujeva

    PRISHTINA, Dec 27 (KIC) - The LDK sources in the town of Podujeva said the shelling of Serbian military and police forces against a number of Albanian villages, launched earlier today (Sunday), stopped at around 14:00 hrs.

    The villages of Obran^&, Katunisht& ('Velika Reka'), Llapashtic&, and Buric&, west of Podujeva, were shelled for several hours in a row.

    Several Serb tanks and other Serb vehicles withdrew from Obran^&, but three to four tanks and a number of APCs were still inside the village, a couple of km west of Podujeva, sources said in mid- afternoon.

    The consequences of the heavy Serb shelling is still by and large unknown. Killed and wounded are feared. The attacked area was blanketed with a dense fog today afternoon.

    There is a ubiquitous Serb police presence in the town of Podujeva, home to 20,000 people, and in its outskirts.

    Serbian forces occupying the Besiana hotel, at the edge of Podujeva, on the Prishtina-Podujeva highway leading to Nis (Serbia), have machine-gunned a number of Albanian houses of the Bu^aj and Visoka family compounds in Podujeva. The houses of Isak Bu^aj, Ram& Bu^aj, Adem Bu^aj, Osman Visoka, Shefki Visoka, and Ram& Visoka have been fired upon, LDK sources said. Shooting was reported also in the Albanian neighbourhood where the Serb church is situated in Podujeva.

    Meanwhile, the Serb regime Media Center in Prishtina said a Serb, Dragoslav Zdravkovic (1936), was wounded today morning in the village of Katunisht& ('Velika Reka'). Reportedly, the Serb farmer was fired upon with automatic weapons. He responded by shooting back to the assailants, the Serb Center said.

    The village of Obran^& is on the way to Katunisht&. Both villages were shelled by Serbian forces today.

    Agim Veliu, vice-chairman of the LDK chapter in Podujeva, told the KIC by phone several thousand Albanians - mostly women, children and elderly - have been forced to flee their homes in Buric&, Konushec, Gllamnik, Llapashtic&, the outskirts of the town of Podujeva, Obran^& and Katunisht& ('Velika Reka') villages. Part of the displaced population have sought refuge in neighbouring villages, others are living rough in the wooded mountains, in a dramatic situation amidst freezing temperatures.

    The local LDK official called on the international community to intervene militarily in Kosova. "Only such an intervention can save the people of Kosova from further Serbian massacres", Mr. Veliu said.

    [04] Schoolteacher, Seriously Wounded in Obran^&, In Critical Condition

    The Albanian is in desperate need of urgent medical treatment

    PRISHTINA, Dec 27 (KIC) - Mr. Remzi Demolli, a schoolteacher in the village of Obran^&, sustained serious wounds today (Sunday) during the Serbian offensive against this village, 2 km west of the northern town of Podujeva.

    The wounded Albanian teacher is in a critical condition in the village of Llapashtic&, local sources said.

    A doctor who gave Mr. Demolli the first aid said he had sustained life- threatening wounds and needed to be urgently taken to Prishtina for treatment. The doctor asked for help from Prishtina, because the roads have been closed off by Serbian forces.

    The owner of a private ambulance told the KIC he was turned back by the Serb police when he tried to enter the town of Podujeva today.

    The only chance for the Albanian teacher wounded in his home to survive is for the International Red Cross or any other international humanitarian organization to step in.

    [05] President Rugova's Aid Calls for NATO Intervention in Kosova

    PRISHTINA, Dec 27 (KIC) - An energetic international intervention, including by NATO forces, may force the Belgrade regime to halt its aggression and ethnic cleansing campaign in Kosova, Mr. Xhemail Mustafa, press advisor to the President of the Republic of Kosova, said in a statement to the Kosova Information Center (KIC) Sunday afternoon.

    Mr. Mustafa noted that heavy Serb military and police forces attacked again today the villages of Obran^& and Llapashtic&, in the municipality of Podujeva, using "tanks and other artillery pieces".

    The fact that Serbian forces have been attacking the Llapi region for the fourth day in a row is evidence that the Belgrade regime is undermining and openly disregarding the OSCE Kosova Verification Mission (KVM), Mr. Mustafa said. In addition, "with this renewed aggressive action, whose tragic consequences are borne by the Albanian civilian population, the Serb regime is making a negotiating process between Prishtina and Belgrade on the political resolution of the Kosova issue impossible".

    Xhemail Mustafa said there were indications that an agreement for a truce between the U^K (Kosova Liberation Army) and the Serbian forces would be reached under the mediation of the KVM's head, Ambassador Walker, so that the situation in Llapi region be calmed with a restoration of the cease- fire violated by the Serb troops earlier this week. "Today's attack by Serbian forces is also directed against such a possibility, underscoring the unwillingness of the Belgrade regime to calm the situation and seek a political solution".

    The Serb offensive against the Llapi region, in northern Kosova, as well as the ever increasing Serb forces' presence and provocations up and down Kosova, make it necessary that the international community intervene here, Rugova's aide said. "Only an intervention by NATO forces can force Belgrade give up its retaliatory operations against the Albanian civilian population on a large scale, halt its aggressive actions against the U^K positions, as well as the ethnic cleansing campaign in Kosova", Xhemail Mustafa said in a statement to the KIC.

    [06] Kosova Government Deplores "Brutal Offensive Carried out by FRY- Serb Forces' in Llapi Region of Kosova

    PRISHTINA, Dec 27 (KIC) - The Government of the Republic of Kosova "deplores the brutal offensive carried out by FRY-Serb forces", a statement referring to the unfolding Serbian offensive in northern Kosova, which was launched on 24 December, said.

    Following is the text of today's statement signed by Dr. Bujar Bukoshi, Prime Minister of Kosova in exile: "Once again, the victims of the entirely unjustifiable breach of the purported cease-fire are innocent civilians.

    Once again it is the civilians who must pay the price for the misguided faith that has been placed in the word of Slobodan Milosevic.

    The renewed streams of refugees, fleeing from their villages as a direct result of systematic military operations, conducted as before as part of a pattern of terror, intimidation and ethnic cleansing, must now trigger a forceful international response. The credibility of NATO, the OSCE and their member states has been challenged by this onslaught launched on Christmas Eve.

    The Government of the Republic of Kosova, and, indeed, the population of Kosova, cannot be expected to continue cooperation with the international presence in Kosova, if the process of ethnic cleansing and terror is permitted to resume under the very eyes of the verification mission, in the harsh conditions of mid-winter.

    Decisive steps must now be taken to make it clear to Milosevic regime that it cannot pursue its brutal policy, in violation of clear commitments, without restraint and with impunity.

    Otherwise the international effort in Kosova is doomed.

    The hostilities must be terminated immediately, the heavy FRY forces must be withdrawn from Kosova territory, there must be immediate humanitarian access and the investigators from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia must be permitted to operate without restraint.

    These latest outrages also highlight the urgency with which genuine attempts to achieve an overall settlement to the question of Kosova must now be pursued. It must now be clear that the initiative proposed by Ambassador Hill cannot form the basis for a settlement, inasmuch as it has failed to attract the support of any of the parties to this conflict. The Government of the Republic of Kosova, for its part, remains eager and willing for real negotiations to commence, once the FRY has complied with the mandatory demands of the United Nations Security Council.

    The Government of the Republic of Kosova remains willing to start immediate cooperation with an International Implementation Commission, to ensure compliance with these mandatory demands by all sides. Once compliance has been certified, international mediated negotiations between Kosova and FRY can commence in Geneva or at another appropriate venue outside former Yugoslavia. The American leading role in this process is indispensable.

    The Government of the Republic of Kosova has already made public the principles that will guide its delegation in such negotiations.

    These principles were formulated in a constructive spirit, which does not seek to impose preconditions upon the talks which must now begin without further delay."

    Kosova Information Center

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