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Kosova Daily Report #1530, 98-08-23
Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1530
Prishtina, 23 August 1998
CONTENTS
[01] Serb Military and Police Mount Artillery Attack on Lipjan Villages,
Central Kosova
[02] Serb Troops Attack Villages South of Komoran
[03] Serb Troops Launch Large-scale Attack in Suhareka Area
[04] Woman Refugee Dies for Lack of Medical Treatment
[05] Serb Onslaught in Shtime Villages Continues
[06] Two Albanians Wounded as Serb Forces Attack Ribar Village in Lipjan
[07] Serb Offensive on Southern Drenica Villages Continues Sunday
Afternoon
[08] Serb Troops Attack Suhareka Villages from Three Positions
[09] Serb Police Mount House-to-House Raid Campaign in Gjakova
[01] Serb Military and Police Mount Artillery Attack on Lipjan Villages,
Central Kosova
PRISHTINA, Aug 23 (KIC) - Lipovica, a national park and holiday resort in
central Kosova, and the outlying villages of V&rshec, Leletiq, Miren&,
Qylag&, Krojmir, in the municipality of Lipjan, have been under a heavy
Serbian artillery attack since 6:30 in the morning today (Sunday).
The attack was launched from Serb positions in the mining town of Magur&, 6
km south of the Prishtina airport. The sound of high- caliber cannon fire
could be heard till 9:30 in the capital of Prishtina, 23 km north of
Magur&.
Foreign report crews were turned back today by Serb forces near the
Prishtina airport and in Lipjan, the two routes leading to the attacked
area.
Eyewitness told the KIC the villages were in flames and smoke was billowing
from Albanian communities. At least three shells landed in the villages per
minute, they claimed.
There have been no immediate reported casualties.
The Albanian population of the villages of Dobraj& e Madhe, Ribar, Torin&,
Poturovc, Qylag& which lie just outside the attacked area fear they too may
be targeted by Serb troops. The fear is all the more great given that over
27,000 displaced Albanians from villages such as Shal& ('Sedlar'), Krojmir,
Miren&, but also other areas targeted earlier by the Serb aggression, have
been collected there.
An eyewitness told the KIC all the adult population in the village of
Dobraj& e Madhe, three km away from Magur&, have been mobilized to get the
children to safer areas. Around 3,000 displaced people had found shelter in
this village alone, after their home communities had been shelled by
Serbs.
The villages of Lipjan have been reported targeted from three sides,
including Komoran in the north and Shtime area in the south.
The villages of Carralev& and Pjet&rshtic& in the neighboring municipality
of Shtime have been reported shelled today, too.
The Prishtina-Prizren north-south roadway is effectively blockaded, at
least from Lipjan to Shtime and further towards Prizren.
People travelling the road, including foreign reporters, were turned back
in Lipjan today.
Armed Serb civilians have joined Serb troops in the attacks today, reports
said. Foreign reporters speaking to the KIC have confirmed this.
[02] Serb Troops Attack Villages South of Komoran
PRISHTINA 23 Aug (KIC) - Serb forces garrisoned in Komoran and adjacent
bases mounted today (Sunday) morning a huge artillery attack against
several villages in the area. Serb infantry is advancing fast towards
villages south of Komoran, local sources said this morning.
The village of Komoran, straddling the Peja-Prishtina highway, has been for
months now turned into a huge Serb base.
Witnesses told the KIC that fresh troops and combat equipment were deployed
in Komoran and an adjacent villages over the past days.
The LDK Information Commission in Gllogovc said the Serb attack against the
villages of Kishnareka, Nekovc, Sankovc, and Fushtica began at around 7 a.m
today. Witnesses told the LDK chapter in Gllogovc that Serb infantry,
backed up by tanks and other heavy artillery pieces, began advancing
towards the villages of Sankovc and Fushtica, heading towards the
neighboring municipality of Lipjan. Plumes of smoke were billowing from
farmhouses in these two villages.
Sources told the KIC that the Serb troops are intent on moving towards
Lipovica holiday resort and the village of Shal& (Sedlar) and Krojmir in
the municipality of Lipjan, which were being attacked from two other
directions on the south since today morning.
No report has been yet available about possible casualties.
[03] Serb Troops Launch Large-scale Attack in Suhareka Area
PRISHTINA, Aug 23 (KIC) - At 5:30 in the morning today, Serb troops ordered
the inhabitants of Bajraktari family compound in the town of Suhareka to
leave their homes.
A bit later, heavy Serb troops were deployed there with tanks, and started
shelling the villages of Pe^an, Reshan, Studen^an and Samadraxh&. From
their position in Bira^, Serbs shelled the village of Sllapuzhan, local
sources said.
The population of these villages fled their homes in panic, as the attack
was ferocious. An LDK source in Suhareka said at 7:30 the Serb attack was
going on unabated.
Meanwhile, at 6:00 o'clock in the morning, Serb military and police troops
shelled the village of Bllac& with heavy artillery, local LDK sources
reported.
An Albanian, Selim Lumi (1941), native of Bllac&, was reported wounded
today morning.
The village of Bllac& was all in flames at 11:00 hrs, sources said, adding
that villages around Bllac& were also being shelled.
Local Albanian forces have been putting up a fierce resistance to attacking
Serb troops.
[04] Woman Refugee Dies for Lack of Medical Treatment
PRISHTINA, Aug 23 (KIC) - Hajrije Gashi, native of Pllo^ic& village of
Malisheva, died on the schoolhouse of Obri e Ep&rme in Drenica region for
lack of adequate medical treatment, local sources said.
Repeated calls to help her have fallen in deaf ears, they added.
[05] Serb Onslaught in Shtime Villages Continues
Smoke was billowing earlier in the day from Belinc& and Re^ak, where Serb
infantry is said to have entered in the afternoon PRISHTINA, Aug 23 (KIC) -
An attack launched by Serb troops early in the morning today against
villages in the Shtime municipality was still going on unabated in the
afternoon, local sources said.
Two convoys of Serb troops arrived at Zborc from Prishtina today morning to
join the Serb forces deployed in the Shtime pinewood.
From this location they started shelling the villages of Lipovic&, Belinc&,
Carralev&, Re^ak, Petrov&, Ranc&, Pjet&rshtic&, and Dug&, local LDK sources
said.
At 14:00 hrs smoke was reported billowing from the villages of Belinc& and
Re^ak.
A bit later, LDK sources said Serb infantry units had entered the villages
of Re^ak and Belinc& and were torching the Albanian houses. They said the
villages of Belinc&, Zborc and Pjetershtic& were in flames.
There have been no immediate reports on casualties.
The area has been sealed off by Serb forces, which have cut off routes of
communication for displaced people trying to make for relative safety.
In the gateway to Lipjan, namely near the Sitnica river bridge on the
roadway leading to Shtime and Magur&, police have been preventing Albanians
from entering the town of Lipjan.
Serb paramilitary police stationed at Koshar& of Shtime have been also
preventing people from streaming towards Ferizaj ('Urosevac').
Tractors with women and children who have fled the villages of Lipovic&,
Ribari i Madh and the outlying villages have been turned back there.
The Albanian population of the Re^ak gorge has fled their villages and been
heading to the relative safety of villages which have not yet been targeted
by the Serb war machinery.
[06] Two Albanians Wounded as Serb Forces Attack Ribar Village in Lipjan
PRISHTINA, Aug 23 (KIC) - Two Albanians, Ymer Gashi (23) and Afrim Abdyli
(35), were wounded today during a Serb artillery attack on the village of
Ribar i Madh village, Lipjan municipality, south- west of Prishtina.
A large number of villages in four municipalities in central and south-west
Kosova - Lipjan, Shtime, Gllogovc and Suhareka - came under heavy Serb
artillery fire early in the morning today. Sources told the KIC Serb
infantry was advancing from several directions towards the villages of
Lipjan and Shtime this morning, torching Albanian communities.
Sources in Lipjan said the Serb attack against the Ribar i Madh was
launched at around midday today. The village was attacked from at least two
locations, Kodra e K&r^ev&s (K&r^eva Hill) and the Magura mining town,
about 5 km westward. Many shells landed in the farmhouses of Graj^eci and
Kozhani extended family compounds in the village.
Ribar i Madh had a population of around 2000 but was swelled lately with at
least 4000 other people uprooted from other parts of Kosova, mainly from
the eastern Drenica region villages.
Early in the afternoon today, people began fleeing the village in panic,
moving in the direction of Lipjan and adjacent villages, witnesses said.
The shelling of Ribar i Madh died out at around 2 p.m., sources said,
adding that Serb police units were seen later heading towards the village.
[07] Serb Offensive on Southern Drenica Villages Continues Sunday
Afternoon
PRISHTINA, Aug 23 (KIC) - A Serb forces attack launched today morning
against the villages near Komoran, on the left side of the Prishtina-Peja
highway in the municipality of Gllogovc, was reported still underway in
early afternoon hours.
Early in the morning today, Serb forces garrisoned in Komoran and adjacent
bases mounted a huge artillery attack against several southward villages.
The villages of Kishnareka, Nekovc, Sankovc and Fushtica were first pounded
with heavy artillery fire. Later on the Serb infantry, backed up by tanks
and other heavy artillery pieces, began advancing towards these villages
concentrating the attack on the Sankoc village. Several houses were in
flames in this village at around 13:00, the LDK chapter in Gllogovc said.
Plumes of smoke have been likewise billowing from two other villages,
Kizharek& and Nekoc, it added.
Serb troops have been heading towards the neighboring municipality of
Lipjan, where several Albanian villages have been targeted by a huge Serb
offensive since morning hours today. Armed Serb civilians have joined Serb
troops in the attacks today, reports said
[08] Serb Troops Attack Suhareka Villages from Three Positions
PRISHTINA, Aug 23 (KIC) - Early in the morning today, Serb troops shelled a
number of Suhareka villages from three positions - a location called Biraq,
then the "Ballkani" rubber plant and the village of Landovica, local LDK
sources said.
Tens of Serb artillery shells landed in the villages of Sllapuszahn and
Reshtan, LDK sources said. Shells have reportedly landed near the village
of Studen^an, too.
The population of the attacked villages have been evacuated, reports said.
Earlier in the day today, the KIC learned that an Albanian, Selim Lumi
(1941), native of Bllac&, was wounded today morning.
The village of Bllac& was all in flames at 11:00 hrs, sources said.
[09] Serb Police Mount House-to-House Raid Campaign in Gjakova
PRISHTINA, Aug 23 (KIC) - Just after midday today, Serbian police mounted a
large-scale campaign of house-to-house raids in the town of Gjakova, local
sources said.
Many Albanians in several quarters of the town have had their houses
stormed by armed policemen. Entire families have been harassed under the
pretext of having allegedly harbored members of the Liberation Army of
Kosova (U^K).
The LDK chapter in Gjakova said it could identify names of several
Albanians who had their homes raided by the Serb forces so far, including
P&rparim Vala, Idriz Abdullahu, Arben Jaka and Xhevdet Zeka.
Kosova Information Center
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