Kosova Daily Report #1447, 98-06-01
Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1447
Prishtina, 1 June 1998
First Edition: 12:30 CET
Second Edition: 14:00 CET
Third Edition: 16:30 CET
CONTENTS
[01] At Least Six Albanians Massacred by Serb Forces at Poklek Village of
Gllogovc
[02] Around 1000 Kosovar Refugees Arrive in Northern Albania
[03] Serbs Lay Land Mines on a Road Near Komoran Village
[04] Kosova Parts Under Unfolding Serb Onslaught Still without Phone Lines
[05] Names of 20 Albanians Killed by Serb Forces in De^an over Weekend
[06] De^an and Villages Resemble Vukovar Ruins
[07] Serb Forces Resume Shelling Villages in Gjakova Municipality
[08] Second Bosnia Is Happening in Kosova, Political Parties Say
[09] Testimonies of Eye-Witnesses about Serb Forces' Massacre at Poklek of
Gllogovc
[10] Serbian Shelling of Border Villages Continues
[11] Serbian Police Arrests Mevlude Sara^i, MP, LDK Activist
[12] Serbs Neighbors Expel Albanian Family from a Prishtina Village
[13] Thousands of Children Protest in Prishtina on International Children's
Day
[01] At Least Six Albanians Massacred by Serb Forces at Poklek Village of
Gllogovc
PRISHTINA, June 1 (KIC) - The Democratic League of Kosoav (LDK) sources in
Gllogovc told the Kosova Information Center (KIC) a number of Albanians
were massacred by Serbian forces yesterday (Sunday) at the Poklek i Ri (New
Poklek) village of Gllogovc.
Many Albanian farmsteads were looted and set ablaze during the Serb forces
sweep.
Some local people, who eye-witnessed the Serb onslaught, said Serbian
forces advanced into the village, rounded up the Albanians and got them in
long columns.
Part of the Albanian inhabitants were told to leave Kosova, get across the
Bjeshk&t e Nemuna mountains to Albania, "to never return", whereas the rest
were held up.
Part of those who were held up in the village were killed by Serbian
forces.
LDK sources and the local chapter of the Council for the Defense of Human
Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) in Gllogovc reported of at least six Albanians
slain by Serbian forces at Poklek i Ri village: Ahmet Berisha (40), Ardian
Hazir Deliu (18), brothers Hajriz Hajdini and Ahmet Hajdini, and Sahit
Qorri and Sefer Qorri.
The youth, Ardian Deliu, had his throat cut, sources said.
An eye-witness said Serb police doused houses with gasoline and set them
ablaze.
At least 20 houses were burned, whereas all others ransacked.
Police robbed Ahmet Berisha's household of DEM 50.000, whereas other
households had cars and other equipment stolen.
Yesterday's brutal crackdown of Serbian forces on the village of Poklek i
Ri was precede by a trifle accident involving two Serb policemen.
LDK sources said Serb deputy police commander in Gllogovc, Trajkovic, had a
car accident in which he was injured. It was presented as an attack by
Albanians, though.
Serb media reported today, a Serb policeman, Tmoslav Fatic, was killed from
an ambush at Poklek village at 15:00 hrs yesterday.
The Serbian attack on Poklel had started at 13:15 hrs, though.
KIC reported about it at 14:00. (See Informatori ditor nr. 2075.b.)
[02] Around 1000 Kosovar Refugees Arrive in Northern Albania
PRISHTINA, June 1 (KIC) - Around 1000 Kosova Albanians fleeing their
villages in the municipality of De^an amidst the ongoing Serbian military-
police aggression have reached the northern towns of Tropoj& e Vjet&r and
Bajram Curr in Albania in the past couple of days, Mr. Iljaz Ramajli, head
of the Representative Office of the Republic of Kosova in Tirana, told KIC
today.
The Kosova envoy said the UNHCR and the International Red Cross
organizations said most of the refugees were in desperate condition,
terrified by what they had been going through amidst Serb brutalities, and
exhausted of a long distance march through a rugged mountainous terrain
from Kosova across the border to Albania.
[03] Serbs Lay Land Mines on a Road Near Komoran Village
PRISHTINA, June 1 (KIC) - The Serb forces have reportedly laid mines on
part of road near Komoran village, municipality of Gllogovc in central
Kosova.
Sources in Gllogovc said mines have been laid in an area between the police
checkpoint in Komoran and Drenica river bridge.
Fearing possible blasts, the Serb police spent the last night in the houses
of Albanians in the vicinity, sources said.
Most of the local population in Komoran have abandoned their homes during
the past four days, amidst the unfolding Serb forces onslaught in the area.
Albanians living near the police checkpoint and along the main road in the
big village of Komoran have fled homes almost two moths ago.
Ten Albanians were killed, and six others badly wounded when running into a
minefield laid by Serb forces in the vicinity of Ponoshec village of
Gjakova, municipality in western Kosova on 12 May.
[04] Kosova Parts Under Unfolding Serb Onslaught Still without Phone Lines
PRISHTINA, June 1 (KIC) - The four Kosova municipalities in central 2and
western Kosova, in which Serb forces have embarked on a brutal onslaught in
the past few days, have been without telephone lines for four days now.
The Serb-installed authorities in Kosova cut off Friday morning telephone
lines in Gjakova, De^an, Peja and Klina.
The main Kosova highway connecting Prishtina with the central part of
Kosova, Klina, Peja and De^an in the west, and Gjaova in the southwest has
been closed for almost a month now.
Press crews, both domestic and foreign, have been denied access to those
parts of Kosova for days.
Serb forces have laid an iron ring around the a wide area.
The chairwoman of the LDK Information Commission in Gjakova Besa Arllati,
and the Bujku reporter there, Jah& Sadria, have been held in Serb police
custody since Friday.
Another correspondent of the Prishtina-based Bujku newspaper in Klina, Pren
Buzhala, was reported arrested by the Serbian police yesterday (Sunday).
[05] Names of 20 Albanians Killed by Serb Forces in De^an over Weekend
PRISHTINA, June 1 (KIC) - Mr. Musa Berisha, head of the local chapter of
the Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) told the
media today the names of a dozen Albanians killed Saturday and Sunday in
De^an and the surrounding villages in western Kosova.
The CDHRF official named the following killed Albanians: Tafil Kasumaj, 47,
high school teacher, Shaban Kasumaj, 43, high school teacher, both of them
residents of Llo^an village; Besart Dautaj, 12, and Teuta Loshaj (f), 21,
residents of Carrabregu i Ep&rm; Shyhrete Jeftaj (f) from De^an; Beqir
Rrustem Krasniqi, 49, a imam (local Muslim Albanian cleric), and Halit Zeq&
Krasniqi, 50, residents of Vranovc; Avni Adem P&rgjegjaj, 32, resident of
Lumbardh, and Hajdar Uk& Ukshinaj and Mehmet Uk& Ukshinaj, residents of
Lubeniq village.
The local CDHRF official, Musa Berisha, said two Albanians have been found
killed at Strellci i Ep&rm, but their names have not been known yet.
KIC reported yesterday that two women were killed at Carrabreg i Ep&rm
villages, whose names were unknown then. They have been identified as Hate
Blakaj, 60, and Ajmone Balaj, 50. In addition Shaqir Dobraj, 80, from
Carrabregu i Ep&rm, Faz& Krasniqi (43) and Imer Elez Ukaj, 50, from
Vranovc; Xaj& Ku^i (47) from De^an, and Arif Mahmutdemaj and Rexhep Pavataj
from Strellc were reported as killed over the week-end, and their names
reported yesterday.
At least 6 Albanians were massacred by Serb police in another part of
Kosova, Poklek village of Gllogovc, on Sunday (See Rep #1447-A)
[06] De^an and Villages Resemble Vukovar Ruins
PRISHTINA, June 1 (KIC) - The situation in De^an municipality, in western
Kosova, has been escalating to unprecedented dimensions four-day long large-
scale offensive of Serb forces against the Albanian population in the town
and the surrounding villages which.
Vast parts of the municipality and the small itself came under a renewed
Serb forces fire today morning, the LDK and CDHRF sources said.
Serb forces have been targeting Albanian settlements from several positions,
including 'Yugoslav' military bases in Podi i G&shtenjave and Hulaj near
De^an, Zag&rlla near Peja and Rastavic& of Gjakova.
The area has been interruptedly attacked by Serb forces for the fourth
straight day today.
De^an and some of the villages worst hit resemble the ruins of Vukovar, the
Croatian town destroyed by the Serbian army in early 1990s, local observers
said.
The Serb forces are applying the scorched-earth policy there.
Clouds of smoke can be seen overhead the villages of Carrabreg i Ep&rm,
Carrabreg in Posht&m, Beleg, Isniq and the upper part of the town of De^an,
the chairman of the chapter of the Council for the Defense of Human Rights
and Freedoms (CDHRF) in De^an said on a (mobile) phone at around 11:30.
The settlements have been pounded with heavy artillery, including the 22O
mm cannons, the CDHRF official said.
He said that the local population and members of the Liberation Army of
Kosova (U^K) have been putting up a vigorous resistance in a bid to defend
themselves and their homes.
Dozens of house in De^an and the surrounding villages, Carrabreg i Posht&m
and Carrabeg i Ep&rm, Strellc, Lubeniq, Krushec, Vranoc, Rastavic&, Prejlep,
and others have been damaged badly or even burned to the ground.
It is virtually impossible to learn the exact casualty figures amidst the
ongoing Serb shelling in the area, the local human rights activist
concluded.
[07] Serb Forces Resume Shelling Villages in Gjakova Municipality
LDK activists still under Serb arrest
PRISHTINA, June 1 (KIC) - Serbian forces resumed shelling the villages of
the Reka e Keqe region in the municipality of Gjakova today (Monday)
morning, LDK sources said.
It is feared there are wounded people among local Albanians who have not
received any medical assistance as the area is sealed-off by huge Serbian
military and police forces.
Reports from Gjakova said Dr. Fehmi Vula, member of the local LDK
leadership, who was arrested three days ago, has been taken to a Serbian
jail in the neighboring town of Prizren.
Ms Besa Arllati, head of the LDK Information Commission, and Jah& Sadria, a
correspondent with the Bujku newspaper, are being held in Serb custody in
Gjakova.
[08] Second Bosnia Is Happening in Kosova, Political Parties Say
PRISHTINA, June 1 (KIC) - Representatives of the political parties
represented in the Parliament of Kosova - Kol& Berisha, LDK, Simon
Augustini, PSHDK, Kaqusha Jashari, PSDK, Qerim Ujkani, PNDSH, Gjergj Dedaj,
PLK, and Hiljmo Kandic, PAD - held a joint meeting in Prishtina today to
review the situation in the country.
They have been holding regular meetings on a weekly basis for a month now.
The dramatic escalation in Kosova follows an undeclared war of Serbia
against the people of Kosova, the parties concluded, adding that Serbian
forces have been committing atrocities against Albanians.
The parties hailed the Clinton-Rugova meeting, as well as other meetings
President Rugova had with Albright and other senior U.S. administration
officials.
In a statement issued from the meeting, the Kosovar political forces said
the Kosovar drama has been assuming tragic dimensions despite international
diplomatic talk of not allowing it to happen.
The parties called for international intervention in Kosova.
NATO troops should be deployed in Kosova to avoid a new catastrophe in the
region, the parties said.
The parliamentarian parties said the Milosevic regime has been using the
Prishtina-Belgrade talks as a cover for its crimes against the Albanian
civilian population, including women and children.
"The killings, looting, the burning of houses, the arrests, large- scale
displacement of Albanian population and ethnic cleansing practices, the
blockade of humanitarian relief supplies and telephone lines, lack of
access to the area for domestic and foreign media - all this is evidence
that what is happening in Kosova is a repeat of Bosnia", the statement of
the parties said.
The parties criticized the International Red Cross for not doing enough to
help the population in the endangered areas.
The political parties have been doing all they can on the ground to help
the suffering population of Kosova, the statement said.
[09] Testimonies of Eye-Witnesses about Serb Forces' Massacre at Poklek of
Gllogovc
'Pools of blood, parts of human skin and brains could be seen on the ground
and walls'
PRISHTINA, June 1 (KIC) - Serb forces massacred a number of local Albanians
at the Poklek i Ri (New Poklek) village of Gllogovc Sunday afternoon.
Local LDK sources and the chapter of the Council for the Defense of Human
Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) in Gllogovc revealed today the names of six
slain Albanians yesterday, naming them as Ahmet Berisha (40), Ardian Deliu
(18), Hajriz Hajdini, Ahmet Hajdini, Sahit Qorri and Sefer Qorri. The youth,
Ardian Deliu, had his throat cut.
Serbian forces advanced into the village yesterday, rounded up local
Albanians in long columns, killed some of them, and doused houses with
gasoline and set them ablaze, a witness told LDK sources in Gllogovc.
Meanwhile an activist of the Parliamentary Party of Kosova (PPK) in
Gllogovc has offered additional testimony about yesterday's massacre in
Poklek.
The PPK activist (Sh.B.) said he succeeded to enter the village today where
he witnessed the consequences of a heinous carnage.
"Yesterday at around 2 p.m., heavy Serb forces came to the village from the
[Ferrous-Nickel] Ferronikeli plant in Gllogovc, who started shooting at
everything around.
At around 6 p.m. you could see the village covered by smoke and houses
ablaze. The first Albanians from outside could only enter the village at
around 9 p.m. when the Serb forces withdrew. They found there a wounded
youth. He was hit with two bullets and had his throat cut. He was
unconscious but still alive", the witness said.
He said the people who reached Poklek said they did not encounter any other
wounded people, meaning that the police had taken the bodies of the victims
when withdrawing.
Sh.B said he was at Poklek village this morning. Houses there were burned
down. "There were pools of blood, parts of skin, and brains of people on
the ground and walls", he said.
Another witness, Asllan Sejdiu, claimed that the Serb police has arranged
bodies of the victims in positions so as to look like they were killed in
clashes. The police laid weapons in their hands and took photographs of
them later, he said.
Both witnesses said that there were no clashes between the Serb police and
Albanians at Poklek on Sunday. No member of the so- called Liberation Army
of Kosova was there and the local villagers did not put up any resistance.
"It was nothing but a Serb slaughter", the witness said.
[10] Serbian Shelling of Border Villages Continues
PRISHTINA, June 1 (KIC) - Today (Monday) morning, Serbian forces resumed
shelling the villages of the Reka e Keqe region in the municipality of
Gjakova along the border area with Albania, LDK sources said.
The LDK Information Commission the villages have been shelled from Serb
('Yugoslav') positions at Ponoshec and Babaj, as well as the ^abrati
hillside.
The extent of material damage and casualty toll is unknown, as the area has
been sealed off.
There has been gunfire at Zylfaj village along the border with Albania,
sources said, adding that population has been moving out.
The LDK Information Commission in Gjakova said the villages of Grama^el,
Glloxhan, Baballoq, Shaptej, Firaj&, Dobrixh& have come under Serb fire
today, too.
The villages have been reported shelled from Serb forces stationed at Suka
e Biteshit.
Many houses have been burned or destroyed from heavy artillery fire.
The extent of casualty-toll is still unknown.
The town of Gjakova and the villages of this municipality have been cut off
telephone lines for days now.
There is a restricted flow of people and no flow of goods, including basic
necessities.
Reports from Gjakova said Dr. Fehmi Vula, member of the local LDK
leadership, who was arrested three days ago, has been taken today to a
Serbian jail in the neighboring town of Prizren.
Ms Besa Arllati, head of the LDK Information Commission, and Jah& Sadria, a
correspondent with the Bujku newspaper, are being held in Serb security
custody in Gjakova.
[11] Serbian Police Arrests Mevlude Sara^i, MP, LDK Activist
PRISHTINA, June (KIC) - The Serbian police arrested today at 11:00 Mrs
Mevlude Sara^i, chairwoman of the LDK Women's Forum branch in Gjakova,
member of the LDK Presidency in Gjakova, and a member of the Parliament of
Kosova elected on 22 March 1998.
Police detained her in the LDK branch offices in Gjakova. The pretext for
her arrest is unknown.
Dr. Fehmi Vula, also an MP and member of LDK branch presidency, was
arrested three days ago. Today he was taken to a Serbian jail in Prizren.
Ms Besa Arllati, head of the LDK Information Commission, and Jah& Sadria, a
correspondent with the Bujku newspaper, are being held in Serb security
custody in Gjakova, too.
[12] Serbs Neighbors Expel Albanian Family from a Prishtina Village
PRISHTINA, June 1 (KIC) - An Albanian family was forced to abandon their
house in Gra^anica village of Prishtina amidst repeated threats by local
Serbs.
Ms Miradie Bajqinca said she was threatened by her neighbors with
liquidation unless her family moved out.
The Bajqinca family were the only Albanians living in the middle of a huge
Serb neighborhood in Gra^anica.
Mr. Bajqinca's son, Nexhmedin, told KIC that in the nights of 28 and 2 May
their Serb neighbors smashed their windows with stones.
"They [Serbs] offended us and vowed to kill us all unless we left the
village in 24 hours", Nexhmedin Bajqinca said.
[13] Thousands of Children Protest in Prishtina on International Children's
Day
PRISHTINA, June 1 (KIC) - Thousands of children rallied today in Prishtina,
capital of Kosova, to protest the Serb regime violence and occupation of
Kosova.
Under the motto "We, Too, Have the Right to Live", children, parents,
teachers and other citizens demonstrated for half an hour, 12-12:30, in the
Mother Teresa square.
Chanting slogans in support of Kosova's freedom, to Ibrahim Rugova, and the
U^K, the protesters urged for the withdrawal of Serb forces from Kosova and
for international recognition for Kosova.
Kosova Information Center
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