2004 unrest in Kosovo

Kosovo's Kristalnacht was a tragic event that took place on March 17, 2004 in the Serbian province of Kosovo carried out by Albanian extremists against the Serbs and their presence in the province. One anonymous UNMIK official after refered to the violence in March 2004 as "Kristallnacht".

Since the end of the Kosovo War in 1999 and the entry of NATO troops under the auspices of KFor, thousands of Serbs and other non-Albanians fell victims to indiscriminate attacks and ethnic cleansing. Those that remained, particularly the Serbs, organized themselves into enclaves, some of which resembled ghettos with anywhere from eight (Prizren Seminary) to thousands of people packed into an area sealed off by barbed wire and constantly protected by KFor from Albanian attacks.

Hundreds of attacks on Serb civilians have taken place since 1999 with some 3000 Serbs and non-Albanians missing and about a thousand dead. Targets included Eastern Orthodox shrines as well (over 120 destroyed from the 12th century onward), men, women, children, the elderly, one nun, civilian buses, houses, trains etc.

In light of these occurences, on March 15, 2004, a young Serb Jovica Ivić from Čaglavica was wounded and transfered to a Serb hospital in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica. Serbs from his village and surrounding ones as well (Gračanica, Sušica, Laplje selo, Preoce) organised peaceful civil disobedience protests by blocking roads to and from their towns. This caused clashes with the Albanians.

On Tuesday March 16, three Albanian boys drowned in the river Ibar in the village of Čabar near the Serb community of Zubin Potok. Serbs were immediately blamed and this incident was believed to be in revenge for the shooting of the Serb young man the previous day. Albanian media featured an interview with the boy, reportedly the son of a local KLA commander, who claimed that a group of Serbs with a dog forced them into the river which caused the drowning of his two friends. UNMIK police first reported being skeptical of the story and later claimed that the boy admitted to having made up the part about the Serbs and their dog.

Later that day a mob of Albanians from the Southern part of Kosovska Mitrovica pelted rocks and scuffled with KFor troops guarding the bridge on the river Ibar which separated Kosovska Mitrovica in two. Later Albanians threw grenades and opened sniper and machine gun fire at the Serb side killing two, Jana Tucev (36) and Borivoje Spasojevic (63).

In what was later described as a preorchestrated campaign by OSCE officials, Albanian mobs attacked Serb enclaves of Čaglavica, Laplje selo, Lipljan, Zubin Potok, Obilić.

So far, because of the evacuation of UNMIK and the state in the province it is hard to make an assessment but at least 15 Serb Orthodox churches have been burned, 22 Serbs killed and 200 injured with places such as Gnjilane, Obilić, Lipljan being completely emptied of their remaining Serb populace, evacuated or murdered.