AN OFFICIAL of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees told
MSNBC at the Albanian border that consistent reports from the new
wave of fleeing civilians suggest that between 100 and 200 men were
rounded up and shot near Dacovica, the largest town in southwestern
Kosovo and one now thronged with refugees.
Among the approximately 4,000 refugees who crossed into Albanian
Wednesday, many said that soldiers had singled out their husbands and
led them away. Others reported seeing bodies of dead civilians along the
side of their route out of Kosovo. Still others said they had been
threatened with death if they refused to pay large bribes.
One refugee interviewed by MSNBC said that Serbian police had come
to his village, Meje, and rounded up men from surrounding houses. "Later
in the day," said the man, who refused to give his name, "the Serbs
came and got me and took me to near the cemetery and showed me 120
to 150 bodies.
"They were all lying on the ground, they had bullet holes all over them,"
he said. "The police told me, 'If you don't want to have the same thing
happen to you, you have to pay us.'" He said he gave them 350
Deutsche marks — about $200 — and was allowed to leave.
Because Yugoslavia has barred access to Kosovo, there has been no
way to independently confirm such reports.
The rural and mountainous area around Meje is close to the northern
border with Albania. Other refugees from the region said Thursday that
they thought the surprise Serb onslaught may have been in retaliation for
the deaths of five Serb policemen last week, apparently killed during a
Kosovo Liberation Army offensive. The KLA controls pockets of the
border near Meje, in the Jakovica region.
Some refugees said the additional killings began a week ago and
culminated with the mass slaughter on Tuesday. "They killed my
husband and his brother," Aferdita Asamaj, 25, said. "They came into
the courtyard and shot them. We found them a few hours later in the
same place."
According to UNHCR representatives, dozens of ethnic Albanians that
traveled on the road from Iznic to Jakovica on Tuesday said that Serb
police stopped tractors and pulled off young men. "They were then
herded into a field. The families were then told to travel on," the
representative said.
_____________________
If anyone would like to help our project, which is to send two volunteers to Skopje in mid-May with donated cash and material aid, please contact us at:
K_refugees@hotmail.com
Thank you,
Raven
|
