| Massacre at Krushë e Madhe | |
|---|---|
| Location | Krushë e Madhe, near Rahovec, Republic of Kosovo, |
| Date |
25 March 1999 in the Afternoon (Central European Time) |
| Target | Kosovo Albanian men |
Attack type | Mass Killing |
| Deaths | [1] - 241 men killed[2] |
| Perpetrators | Serb Special Police |
The Massacre at Krushë e Madhe (Albanian language: Masakra e Krushës së Madhe, Serbian language: Masakra e Krushës Madhe) near Orahovac, Kosovo, took place during the Kosovo War on the afternoon of 25 March 1999, the day after the NATO air campaign began.
According to Albanian witnesses, a special police unit entered the village and separated the men from the women, and killed exclusively the men who were of fighting age.[3] Human Right Watch reported that more than 200 men were killed.[1][4] Then, the women and children were given money and told to go to Albania.
War crime trials[]
The massacre at Velika Kruša became a part of war crimes Indictment against Slobodan Milošević and other Serbian political and military leaders:
On or about 25 March 1999, the villages of Velika Kruša and Mala Kruša/Krushe e Madhe and Krushe e Vogel were attacked by forces of the FRY and Serbia.
Village residents took refuge in a forested area outside Velika Kruša/Krushe e Madhe, where they were able to observe the police systematically looting and then burning the villagers' houses.
On or about the morning of 26 March 1999, Serb police located the villagers in the forest.
The police ordered the women and small children to leave the area and to go to Albania. The police then searched the men and boys and took their identity documents, after which they were made to walk to an uninhabited house between the forest and Mala Kruša/Krushe e Vogel.
Once the men and boys were assembled inside the house, the police opened fire on the group.
After several minutes of gunfire, the police piled hay on the men and boys and set fire to it in order to burn the bodies. As a result of the shootings and the fire, approximately 105 Kosovo Albanian men and boys were killed by the Serb police.[2]
— War Crimes Indictment against Milošević and others
See also[]
References[]
External links[]
- List of those killed
- Massacre at Velika Kruša, Orahovac
- Article about massacre at Velika Kruša in polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza
- Photographic Evidence of Kosovo Genocide and Conflict
- Survivors describe massacre in Orahovac
- Human Rights Publication-Massacre in Pastasel, Orahovac
The original article can be found at Massacre at Velika Kruša and the edit history here.