A new mass grave has been discovered in Kosovo. Authorities believe it holds the bodies of people killed during the ethnic conflict of the 1990s and buried there. Excavations at three such sites have recovered the remains of at least 23 people, the country’s authorities say. The news was reported by Al Jazeera.
In a joint statement issued Wednesday local time, the country’s prosecutors, police and forensic officials said teams from the Institute of Forensic Medicine had recovered skeletal remains believed to belong to at least 23 people. However, their full identities can only be confirmed once forensic testing and other formal procedures are complete.
Around 13,000 people were killed and 4,000 went missing in clashes between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian separatist rebels during the Kosovo war of 1998-1999. Various mass graves have been found in the decades since, but about 1,600 people remain unaccounted for.
Excavation began two weeks ago in the Zubin Potok area of the country’s north. The remains found during the operation, which is searching for missing ethnic Albanians, are believed to belong to 23 Albanians who were abducted and killed from the city of Mitrovica in the spring of 1999.
Kosovo’s acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti made this claim during the excavation. Authorities said, however, that all the remains have been sent for DNA testing to confirm their final identities, a process that could take several months.
Police have arrested three local individuals in recent days in connection with the case. Prosecutors say they are under investigation on suspicion of committing war crimes against civilians.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report