Kosovo Starts Digging Newly Discovered War-Era Mass Graves Near Kalluder
Excavations have begun at two recently found mass graves in northern Kosovo, where victims of the 1998-99 conflict are believed to be buried.
In the northern municipality of Zubin Potok, excavations commenced near Upper and Lower Kalluder after human remains were discovered at the locations in late July. The graves are thought to contain victims from the 1998-99 Kosovo war, possibly including the group of 22 intellectuals who vanished in April 1999. Families such as that of Erblin Ademi, whose father, surgeon Adem Ademi, disappeared in the conflict, watch the work with a mix of hope and sorrow.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti indicated authorities suspect the graves may hold those missing intellectuals who were trying to escape Serbian troops. The Humanitarian Law Center notes that about 1,600 people remain unaccounted for, spanning ethnic Albanians, Serbs and Roma. Earlier this month, Kosovo police detained two ethnic Serbs on war-crime suspicions related to the graves, and they remain in custody.
Why it matters
Finding the remains could bring closure to families and clarify the fate of thousands missing from the Kosovo war.
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