My experience of the war in Kosovo
My experience of the war in Kosovo

Summary/Abstract: The war in Kosova was something quite specific. Here, this was not a war on the frontlines, army against army, but one in which the Serb police, together with the Serb army and paramilitary forces, attacked the unarmed Albanian population in their own homes, killing and massacring innocent civilians. Just one section of Albanians was organised in the Kosovo Liberation Army, which was fighting in the peripheral areas, mostly in the mountains; the ordinary population was not prepared and not organised for resistance. Indeed, there was no instruction as to how to act, where to take shelter or where to go. In a word, the population was in a condition of a fatal waiting, as in the Arab expression maktub – “what is written down will be carried out”. Those specific circumstances increased the general uncertainty and fear. I was also myself confused and transfixed by this situation. The war began in Drenica and rapidly spread to other areas. The Serbs were steadily conducting massacres of the civilian population and burning many villages. Every day, we heard sad news about the mass killings and the huge population movements. As always, in all wars terrible misinformation was spread around. However, it was quite clear that Prishtina would soon be engulfed. And soon Prishtina was full of uniforms – soldiers, police and paramilitary forces with black hats – checking every movement. Tanks and armies circulated uninterrupted day and night; their noise was quite fearsome. Albanians did not dare go out, except for some old people who bought food for their families hiding in their houses or apartments. Telephone lines were disconnected and nobody knew anything about what was going on outside their houses. And their relatives knew nothing of what was going on: where they were or even whether they were still alive.

• Details
• Contents