Klečka killings
| Klečka massacre | |
|---|---|
| Location | Klečka, near Lipljan, Kosovo, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia |
| Date | 17–22 July 1998 |
| Target | Kosovo Serb civilians |
Attack type | Mass Killing |
| Deaths | 22[1] |
| Perpetrators | Kosovo Liberation Army |
The Klečka killings were the mass murder of 22 Kosovo Serb civilians, including children, by members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) over a period of several days in July 1998, during the Kosovo War. After the killings, members of the KLA attempted to dispose of the massacre-victims by incinerating their remains in a lime kiln. The Yugoslav Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the killings as a "Nazi-style crime."
Klečka, a village located approximately 40 kilometers southwest of Pristina, was a significant logistics and training base for the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in the summer of 1998.[2] Serbian police took Klečka from the Kosovo Liberation Army on 27 August 1998 after heavy fighting. Afterwards, they quickly gave access to television crews and foreign correspondents, claiming that twenty-two Serb civilians had been killed in the village in the previous month.[3] They alleged that after the killings occurred, members of the KLA attempted to dispose of the massacre-victims by incinerating their remains in a lime kiln.[4]
The Yugoslav Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the international community of double standards over the clashes which were occurring in Kosovo, and condemned the killings in Klečka as a "Nazi-style crime."[5] A representative of the Kosovo Liberation Army denied that the organization had anything to do with the killings,[6] stating that "the KLA has not killed a single Serb civilian."[7]
Notes
- ↑ "Klečka: Žive Srbe bacali u krečanu". Večernje Novosti. 25 November 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
- ↑ "Serbs highlight 'KLA atrocity'". BBC. 29 August 1998. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
- ↑ "Serbs highlight 'KLA atrocity'". BBC. 29 August 1998. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
- ↑ Judah (2002), p. 164
- ↑ "Yugoslavs condemn "Nazi-style" killings of Serbs in Kosovo". BBC. 29 August 1998. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
- ↑ "Serbs condemn Nazi-style massacre of civilians". BBC. 30 August 1998. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
- ↑ Krieger (2001), p. 109
References
Books
- Judah, Tim (2002). Kosovo: War and Revenge. Yale University Press. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
- Krieger, Heike (2001). The Kosovo Conflict and International Law: An Analytical Documentation 1974-1999. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 28 March 2013.