[kcc-news] Albanians talk of Kosova massacre

[Sokol Rama]

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Albanians allege Kosova massacre 



Albanian journalists are reporting renewed and intensified attacks against
Kosova Albanians by Yugoslav forces as the Nato air strikes continued into
a second night. 

The unconfirmed reports, said that there had been a massacre of 20
civilians in the the village of Rahovec in central Kosova
. 
The group rounded up for execution reportedly included "intellectuals",
namely teachers, and the killings were carried out by Serb paramilitary
police before military units pounded the village with shells. 

Kosova Albanians say there has been heavy fighting west of Pristina and
that 20,000 civilians were surrounded by tanks in the northern village of
Qirez. 

But Serbian reports say the separatist Kosova Liberation Army has been
using the cover of Nato strikes to launch attacks on Serbian positions. 

The reports came as Nato intensified its attacks on Yugoslav targets and
warned President Slobodan Milosevic of continued air strikes, involving
warplanes and Cruise missiles, unless he agreed to a deal over autonomy for
Kosova. 


Speaking on Albanian television, Information Minister Musa Ulqini said the
latest killings, in the villages of Goden and Zylfaj, near Dobrune on the
Kosova-Albanian border, were a "terrible massacre". 

The minister said that 176 refugees had fled to Albania, including 96
children. 

"These two villages no longer exist, because they have been razed to the
ground by artillery shells," he said. 

There has been no independent confirmation of the attacks. 


"Foreign correspondents in Macedonia are unable to substantiate the reports
as access to Kosova is now banned. 

They report that the KLA has reported similar alleged alleged massacres
before and have sometimes exaggerated the facts. 

But they add that the tone adopted by pro-Kosova journalists reporting the
incidents may suggest that there is some truth to the allegations. 

Speaking to the BBC World Service's The World Today programme,
Brussels-based Albanian journalist Ekrem Krasnici said that there had been
numerous reports of fresh Serb offensives flooding from the province since
the Nato air strikes began. 

"(The attacks) are just like 12 months ago," he said. "There is clearly an
uncontrolled situation in the majority of the villages and cities in
Kosova." 

Mr Krasnici said that foreign journalists had been concentrating on the
impact of the air strikes on Serbia and were missing the equally important
strand of the story that the situation could worsen in Kosova itself.


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