Kosovo begins excavations at newly found mass graves tied to 1998-99 war missing

KALLUDER, Kosovo (AP) — Erblin Ademi watched from afar as workers excavated recently discovered mass graves from the 1998-99 war in Kosovo. Nearly 30 years after his father went missing, Ademi both feared and wished that his remains will finally… Some 1,600 people are still missing from the conflict, believed scattered in unmarked mass graves, and Ademi's family had endured years of anguish and disappointments at failed efforts to find his father's remains.They are now cautiously optimistic because the newly found graves are near to where Ademi was last seen.

Excavations near the villages of Upper and Lower Kalluder, in the northern municipality of Zubin Potok, started in late July after the discovery of human remains there. Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti has said that the authorities believe the victims could be the missing intellectuals, who allegedly were caught as they were trying to flee Kosovo to avoid being rounded up by Serb troops.“Always, when we hear about the beginning of the excavations, there is a mixed feeling, a feeling of hope and a feeling of pain,” Ademi said. “No matter how many years pass, the feeling of pain will always exist … but at the same time there has always been hope, a feeling that finally the truth will be revealed.”Kosovo’s missing include roughly 1,200 ethnic Albanians, around 400 ethnic Serbs and dozens of Roma, according to the Humanitarian Law Center rights group.Some 13,000 people died in Kosovo's war, which saw ethnic Albanians launch a rebellion to gain independence from Serbia.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, which Belgrade still does not recognize.Tensions still simmer. In May 2023, Serbia and Kosovo reached an agreement which included commitments by both sides to clarify the fate of the missing, but Kosovo and Serbia have accused each other of stalling efforts to work together.“It is obvious that authorities are not willing to cooperate,” said Bekim Blakaj, from the Humanitarian Law Center.The European Union wants Kosovo and Serbia to normalize ties in order to move forward in their plans to join the bloc.Police in Kosovo said last month they arrested two ethnic Serbs on suspicion of war crimes in connecti…