Kosova Daily Report #1502, 98-07-26

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 #1502
Prishtina, 26 July 1998

CONTENTS

[01] Fierce Serb Military Offensive in Gryka e Llapushnikut Resumes

[02] Serb Shelling of Shtimje Villages Continues

[03] At Least 5 Albanians Killed, 24 Wounded, During Serb Offensive on Sunday

[04] Serb Offensive Against Shtime and Suhareka Village Continues Sunday

[05] Serbs Strike Villages in De^an, Peja and Klina Throughout Weekend

[06] Albanian Detainees Tortured Ruthlessly in Serb Jail

[07] 30 Young Albanians Tortured at Serb Checkpoint near Ka^anik

[01] Fierce Serb Military Offensive in Gryka e Llapushnikut Resumes

The offensive started on Friday night, went on till Saturday at 23:00 hrs, and resumed today morning.

The head of the LDK Information Commission in Gllogovc, Mr. Xhem& Binaku, told the KIC some heavy guns, including, 50 to 60 'Yugoslav' army tanks, were involved in the operations against the region, which straddles the vital east-west Prishtina-Peja highway.

Multiple rocket-launchers are being used by Serb forces, too.

As a result of the Serb fire power used, parts of the village of Vukovc, as well as a number of family compounds in the village of Komoran, have been burning, sources said.

There has been no immediate word on casualties amongst Albanians, but the material damage caused to Albanian settlements is said to be immense.

Local Albanians have been resisting the concerted Serbian military and police offensive in the region.

[02] Serb Shelling of Shtimje Villages Continues

The Serbs mounted their attack yesterday morning. It continued well into the night, with a let-up in intensity.

The village of Zborc is in flames, with some 70 percent of the houses having been burned or damaged, the LDK Information Commission said.

Burned and destroyed houses have been reported in the villages of Belinc& and Carralev&, too.

Two eye-witnesses who managed to get out of Zborc today said some 250-300 members of Serb forces advanced into the village and were setting ablaze the houses which had survived the shelling.

The school village has been levelled to the ground, just as all the neighboring houses in Zborc, local sources said.

[03] At Least 5 Albanians Killed, 24 Wounded, During Serb Offensive on Sunday

At least four identified Albanians killed, among whom a pregnant woman, and at least 24 wounded, including 7 children - this the casualty-toll amongst Albanians according to reports available to the KIC by today morning.

The local chapter of the Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) in Skenderaj ('Srbica') said Sali Duraku, resident of Klina e Mesme village, was killed yesterday, whereas his fellow villagers, Safet Hetemi (23), Hajrullah Rexhepi (59) and Sadik Kadriu, were wounded. At Runik& village, Halil Abazi (20) and Isa Ahmeti (23) were wounded yesterday, the Council said.

The local chapter of the CDHRF added that many Albanian houses in Klin& e Mesme and Klin& e Ul&t villages in the municipality of Skenderaj have been burned.

Sources from the municipality of Gllogovc reported of two wounded, Ismet Tha^i, resident of Llapushnik, and Sk&nder Halilaj, resident of T&rdefc village.

Reports from Klina said Shpresa Bashota (20), resident of Cerovik village, in her seventh month of pregnancy, was killed yesterday, as well as Azem Daut Bashota (55) and his wife Zelfije Bashota (50).

Amongst the wounded are Ali Bashota (20), from Cerovik, Shpresa's husband; then Shk&lzen Berisha (25) from Gjurgjevik i Madh, Bali Bujupi (22) from Dob&rdol, Fortesa Gashi (f, 8) from ^abi^, Atifete Gashi (f, 9) from Mleqan, Sokol Gashi (43) from ^abi^, Emine Gashi (f, 8) from ^abi^, Puhije Gashi (f, 5) from ^abi^ and Hajdin Morina (46) from Gllarev&.

Other sources reported on the wounding of Isa Ahmeti (23) from Radishev& village of Skenderaj, and Shp&tim Morina (23) from Gllarev& village of Klina.

Meanwhile, the LDK Information Commission in Suhareka said Jahir Hoxha, resident of Bellanic&, was wounded overnight, whereas yesterday Fatmir Hajrush Guraziu, resident of Bllac&, and Nazmi Mazreku, resident of Malishev&, were wounded.

Habib Berisha, a member of the local Albanian resistance forces, was killed yesterday in clashes with Serb forces trying to advance into Ostrozub and towards Malisheva, local sources said.

The LDK Information in Lipjan said yesterday, at 19:10, in the village of Breg i Zi (Crnobreg) of Lipjan, three Albanian minors were wounded from two shells landing in their village. Muhamet Shaqiri (17), Hekuran Shaqiri (6) and Arlind& Ademi (f, 13) were wounded by shells launched by Serb forces stationed in the Kodra e Belincit in Shtime.

[04] Serb Offensive Against Shtime and Suhareka Village Continues Sunday

The villages of Duhla and Bllaca in particular, located in the immediate vicinity of the Serb bases, have been under continued attack since Saturday morning. Sources in Shtime and Suhareka said immense material damage was caused in the two villages.

At least 300 mortar shells landed in the village of Biraq, which is likewise not far from the Serb base in Qafa e Duhles, the LDK chapter in Shtime said. Besides a large number of houses damaged badly in the village, many hectares of wheat field were burned from shelling around the village.

The shelling of Bllaca, Duhla and Biraq villages, is a part of a huge Serb offensive in a large area stretching in several central Kosova municipalities. The area around the Qafa e Duhl&s Serb bases has been inaccessible since Friday evening. It is feared that the casualty-toll is high amidst the unfolding Serb offensive.

The LDK chapter in Shtime could only learn the names of three Albanians wounded since yesterday morning in villages near along the Shtime-Suharek& road, naming them as Jahir Hoxha, Fatmir Guraziu and Nazmi Mazreku.

Local Albanians forces have been resisting the Serb offensive, sources said.

[05] Serbs Strike Villages in De^an, Peja and Klina Throughout Weekend

LDK and the Human Rights Council sources in De^an said several villages in the area came under repeated Serb shelling on Friday night and all day long on Saturday.

The U^K forces in Junik repelled a couple of Serb attempts to advance into the village. The villages of Gramaqel, Shaptej and Voksh were bombarded with heavy artillery from a Serb base at Suka e Biteshit (Biteshi upland), sources said. No human casualties were reported in these villages, excepting the damage caused on the houses and farmsteads which could survive the bombardment so far.

The local medical center in Gramaqel village was hit by several mortar shells on Friday night and destroyed completely.

Sources in De^an aid that a 78-year-old Albanian, Dervish Ali^kaj, was killed by Serb forces in his Lubeniq village, between Peja and De^an.

Firefighting was reported Saturday in the Lugu i Baranit region, a wide area stretching in the municipalities of Peja and Klina. Serb forces pounded Albanian settlements and local resistance positions with machine guns and heavy artillery, sources in Klina and Peja said.

[06] Albanian Detainees Tortured Ruthlessly in Serb Jail

Serb police has lately embarked on a campaign of arresting Albanian political party and human rights activists, and former political prisoners in the south-east parts of Kosova. Scores of Albanians have been rounded up in the municipality of Ferizaj alone.

The LDK chapter in Gjilan ('Gnjilane') said the detainees have been subjected to brutal torture both in the premises of the Serb police and state security premises in the town. Many have reportedly suffered severe injuries in the hands of Serb forces. Under tight control, in night hours, several detainees have been taken for treatment to the medical center in the town.

An Albanian detainee, Rexhep Bislimi (33) from Ferizaj, died in the Prishtina hospital last week. A doctor in the Prishtina hospital said the body late Bislimi was covered with hematomas and he suffered a kidney insufficiency from the torture.

[07] 30 Young Albanians Tortured at Serb Checkpoint near Ka^anik

The 30 Albanians on board of two buses with Gjakova license plates where forced off the bus by Serbs. Other passengers were let to proceed after having had their identity checked.

The LDK chapter in Ka^anik said early in the afternoon today that the young Albanians who were being held in the Serb police checkpoint were subjected to severe maltreatment.

Serb policemen from other bases have reportedly been brought to the Doganaj checkpoint to maltreat the captured Albanians, witnesses told the LDK office in Ka^anik, a town about 50 km south of Prishtina.

Kosova Information Center

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