Ten years since March pogrom against Serbs in KiM

BELGRADE - It is ten years today since a pogrom was committed against Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija (KiM) and its order-givers and organizers from Albanian political and paramilitary structures have still remained unnamed and unpunished.

This was the second major pogrom to be carried out in peacetime by ethnic Albanian separatists since NATO's bombing, when the province became an international protectorate administered by the United Nations (UN). In June 1999, more than 250,000 Serbs, Roma and other non-Albanians were expelled from the territory in the presence of international forces.

In the wave of ethnic Albanian violence that broke out on March 17, 2004, a total of ten Serbs were killed and two went missing, and 11 Albanians died in clashes with members of international forces.

In only three days, 954 people were injured, including 143 Serbs and dozens of members of international forces who clashed with the Albanians in an attempt to protect the Serbs and their property. The attack left 72 UN vehicles damaged.

A total of 4,012 Serbs were expelled, six towns and nine villages were ethnically cleansed, and 935 Serb houses and 10 community facilities - schools, health centers, and post offices - were destroyed, burnt down or heavily damaged.

The religious and architectural heritage of the Serb people was a special target for the ethnic Albanians, resulting in 35 churches and monasteries, including 18 cultural monuments, being destroyed or burnt down.

Devic Monastery near Srbica and the dormitories of the Monastery of the Holy Archangels near Prizren were flattened; Our Lady of Ljevis Cathedral from the 12th century and the Church of St George from the 16th century were burned down, and on the vault of the...

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