Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti confirmed on Monday that he received information the remains of two bodies found in a mass grave in Serbia, have been identified as victims of the war in Kosovo.
Five mass graves were found in December in Serbia’s southwestern town, Kizevak where human remains believed to be victims of the war were found.
Commemorating the massacre of 98 ethnic Albanians killed during the war by Serbian forces in the village of Rezalla, Kurti said that the mass grave in Kizevak, is connected to the mass grave in Rudnica and “we expect that other people, the victims of the Rezalla massacre and who are on the list of missing persons, will be found [there]”.
“However, this will be known after the excavations and exhumations at this location are completed, as well as all the necessary forensic examinations,” Kurti added in a Facebook post.
Excavation in Kizevak, near the Kosovo border town, Raska started in 2015 by both Kosovo and Serbian teams, but they were intensified in the last weeks after mortal remains were confirmed on November 16.
Identification of the exact location was possible through aerial images from 1999.
In April 1999, 98 Albanian civilians were executed in the village of Rezalla. The village has 44 missing persons. Two of these victims were found in the village right after the war, while 29 others were found in a mass grave in Serbia’s Rudnica- a location close to Kizevak.
There are 10 other victims listed as still missing from this massacre.
Serbian forces surrounded the houses of villagers in Rezalla and executed almost all men and young boys. Only three survived.
Misin Deliu, one of the survivors died in 2019.
“He survived and lived to tell [the story of the massacre],” Kurti wrote.
Kurti said that it is very important for the excavation in Kizevak to begin after a winter break, as well as in other locations where bodies of Albanian victims might be found.
“We remain committed to continuing our work by prioritizing shedding light on the fate and whereabouts of the missing, the best possible legal and institutional treatment of their families and on establishing justice,” Kurti said
Over 1600 people are still listed as missing since the end of the war in Kosovo in 1999.
