Fleeing civilians spoke of summary executions on the street

03.20.99

Armed Serbs wearing black masks and white jumpsuits drove thousands of ethnic Albanians out of their homes in the Kosova town of Srbica on Saturday, local witnesses said.

A column of refugees stretched for miles through the hills of the central Drenica region as men, women and children fled in freezing cold with only the clothes on their backs, a Reuters news team in Lausa, just west of Srbica, reported.

Automatic weapons and machine-gun fire and detonations echoed from the direction of Srbica. Fleeing civilians spoke of summary executions on the street, but there was no independent confirmation of those reports.

Some of the new refugees fled on foot, some in private cars and most in tractor-drawn wagons which shuttled back and forth between Lausa, the first village west of Srbica, and Vojnik, a village some 10 km (six miles) further west.

``They wore white uniforms with black masks. We didn't run away. They forced us to leave. They came at 8.30 a.m. (0730 GMT). We were sitting in our homes when they broke in and forced us to leave at gunpoint,'' said Selim Dragaj, 37. ``They said to me you can take your shoes and go to Albania. Albania is what you wanted and Albania is what you are going to get.''

The Drenica area has been a bastion of separatist ethnic Albanian guerrillas but they have been pushed back by Serbian security forces in a recent offensive, and Saturday's withdrawal of international monitors from Kosova may have been a key factor in the reported Serb assault on Srbica's inhabitants.

An AP reporter saw a Yugoslav convoy heading toward the fighting. About 30 tanks, armored vehicles and trucks with anti-aircraft guns were on the move. Serbian security forces, backed by armor including tanks, blocked the highway between Kosova's capital Pristina and Belgrade. Reporters were halted by police about 10 km (six miles) north of Pristina. Tanks, armored personnel carriers (APCs) and army troops were deployed on and near the highway. Heavy small - arms fire tore through the air in the vicinity.

Serbian police in battle gear backed by tanks and APCs earlier blocked a Reuters news team trying to drive north along the Glogovac-Srbica road from the Komorane highway junction in central Kosova. The corridor was believed to have been in guerrilla hands as recently as Friday.

Civilians were seen fleeing shelling in the hills west of Srbica in north-central Kosova as fighting intensified in a dangerous vacuum caused by the withdrawal of international truce monitors.

Yugoslav federal army troops with armor were arrayed along the main highway west of Pristina that runs through Komorane en route to Pec in the far west of Kosova. The area between Luzane and Podujevo has seen regular clashes between government troops and guerrillas since mid-December, when a Yugoslav army armored brigade moved into the area in violation of a cease-fire agreement.

A buildup of government troops in the region since then has led some analysts to worry that a government offensive against suspected KLA positions in the area is about to start.

Aid workers trying to go north to Belgrade from Pristina to leave the country were blocked by Saturday's fighting.

Reuters reporters met some 30 ethnic Albanian refugees from the village of Poklek, outside Glogovac, about 20 km (12 miles) west of Pristina. Mostly women and children, they were trudging through the snow as shells exploded in the distance.

The refugees said security forces began bombarding a nearby village at 7 a.m. (0600 GMT) Saturday from the Koretica area where the Serbs were known to have armor and artillery.

``Only God knows how much we have suffered and we're still suffering now,'' said Sanije Hoxha , an elderly woman leaning wearily on a cane,.

Compiled from AP ė Reuters reports.

Serbian Military Mounts Attacks in Large Parts of Kosova

PRISHTINA, March 20 (KIC) 10:00 CET - While the OSCE Kosova Verification Mission (KVM), the 1,400-international mission which oversaw the situation in Kosova since autumn, has been evacuating today, Serbian military and paramilitary police troops have launched offensive operations in several parts of Kosova, perhaps one fourth of the entire territory of Kosova. Local LDK sources have reported Serbian attacks today morning in the Podujeva, Vushtrri, Mitrovica, Skenderaj and Gllogovc municipalities, in northern and central Kosova. The population of the villages of Dumnicė e Epėrme and Pėrpellac, municipality of Podujeva, situated along the northern Kosova-Serbia border, have fled their homes today morning. A huge Serbian military convoy, which had so far been on the Serbian side of the border, entered these Albanian villages today morning, local sources said. The Serb military has deployed at a location called "Te lisat" in Dumnicė e Epėrme as well as near the local school in Pėrpellac. Meanwhile, Serbian forces shelled today morning the villages of Majac, Buricė, Godishnjakė and Sallabajė, municipality of Podujeva, some 20 km north of capital Prishtina. At 6:30 CET today, Serbian forces started shelling the villages of Oshlan, Pantinė and Lkej, municipality of Vushtrri, which have been under daily Serb attack for almost a month now. A huge convoy of Serbian forces, consisting of over 50 combat vehicles, left today morning Mitrovica heading for Skenderaj ('Srbica'), where there has been an increased Serb forces' presence, resulting in the flight of the Albanian population to escape an expected onslaught. At 6:30 CET, Serbian forces started shelling the villages of Mikushnicė and Prekaz, municipality of Skenderaj, where the current Serbian aggression and war in Kosova actually started in early March last year. The Serbian infantry units have reportedly entered Prekaz i Ulėt, Prekaz i Epėrm and Polac villages in the area. Many Serbian vehicles were seen travelling the Mitrovica-Skenderaj roadways today morning. A source from Skenderaj told the KIC large Serb forces have been concentrating around the town, and that the population in the vicinity of the Game Ammunition Factory in the suburbs has fled their homes. Serbian forces dressed in camouflaged, white uniforms have been seen roaming the streets of Skenderaj. The local people, locked up in their homes, fear an imminent Serb crackdown. Early in the morning today, Serbian forces started shelling the villages of the municipality of Gllogovc, in central Kosova, local sources told the KIC.

Serbians Forces Mount Heavy Shelling of Drenica Villages

PRISHTINA, March 20 (KIC) 12:00 CET- Serbian forces entered Korroticė e Epėrme village at 9:00 CET today. They have been shelling Korroticė and Vasilevė villages from there, reports said. >From their military/police base at the Ferronikeli (Ferrous nickel) industrial compound, Serbs have been shelling ^ikatovė e Vjetėr and Gllobar villages, the U^K's Kosovapress news agency reported from Gllogovc. Huge Serbian forces have been massing around the Drenica region for some time now, while large parts of the area around ^i^avica mountains has been besieged by huge Serbian army and paramilitary police forces, according to Kosovapress. Meanwhile, in the neighboring municipality of Skenderaj, smoke has been reported billowing from an Albanian neighborhood near the Game Ammunition Factory, abandoned earlier today by its population. Serb police have been raiding Albanian houses in the vicinity of the Skenderaj town hospital today, local sources said.

Several Villages in Vushtrri Area Shelled, Serb Forces Positioned at Mihaliq

PRISHTINA, March 20 (KIC) - Last night, Serbian forces shelled the village of Be^uk, local sources said. Serbian forces near the Shkabaj ('Orlovic') village blocked the movement of people on the Prishtina-Mitrovica highway today morning. Today, at 10:15 CET, Serbian military resumed shelling the villages of Oshlan, Balinc, Liqej, Pantinė and other outlying areas in the municipality. A Serbian police convoy headed at 6:00 CET today towards the village of Pantinė. Meanwhile, yesterday afternoon nine Serbian army tanks and three lorryloads of soldiers left Mitrovica for Vushtrri, at a time four Serb tanks arrived in Vushtrri from Prishtina. They headed to Mihaliq village, where they deployed, local LDK sources in Vushtrri reported.

Serbian Forces Crack down on Prugoc, Besi and Barilevė Villages of Prishtina

PRISHTINA, March 20 (KIC) - Serbian forces opened fire on an Albanian family compound at Prugoc village, and were seen later establishing their presence in the neighboring villages of Barilevė and Besi, a dozen km north of Prishtina, near the Prishtina- Podujeva highway. Albanian residents of these villages, which have arrived in the capital Prishtina, said Serb forces had entered the area, and the local people fled their homes.

Scores of Tanks and Other Serb Combat Vehicles Arrive in Lipjan