2004 Unrest in Kosovo - Attacks On Kosovo Serbs

Attacks On Kosovo Serbs

The violence quickly spread to other parts of Kosovo, with Kosovo Serb communities and religious and cultural symbols attacked by crowds of Albanians. Some of these locations were ostensibly under the protection of KFOR at the time. During the riots and violence, eight Kosovo Serbians were killed. Among damaged property was the targeted cultural and architectural heritage of the Serb people, and as a result 35 churches, including 18 monuments of culture, were demolished, burnt or severely damaged.

The sites of violence included:

• Belo Polje – Serb returnees attacked
• Čaglavica – 11 Serb houses set on fire, 5 Serbs killed. 17 Swedish soldiers wounded.
• Kosovo Polje – Serb houses and a hospital set on fire;
• Lipljan – gunfights between KFOR and Albanians, 4 Serbs killed, remaining Serbs took refugee in Orthodox Church which was attacked;
• Peć – rioting in which UN offices were attacked; one Albanian killed by UN police.
• Pristina – all remaining Serbs evacuated or forced out. Desecration of St. Nicholas Serbian Orthodox church.
• Gnjilane – all remaining Serbs evacuated or forced out
• Cernica, Serb village near Gnjilane – 3 Serbs killed
• Svinjare, Serb village near Kosovska Mitrovica – 4 Serbs killed
• Obilić – Serb houses burnt, all Serbs chased out
• Vitina – Attack on church prevented by US Army KFOR troops, Orthodox priest injured, demonstrators threw rocks at US Army soldiers and set fire to many Serb homes.
• Drajkovce, village near Štrpce – 2 Serbs killed
• Grabac – Serbian village, most Serbs evacuated by Italian peacekeepers to Osojane, some parts of Grabac attacked.

In a statement on 18 March, the Serbian Orthodox Church reported that a number of its churches and shrines in Kosovo had been damaged or destroyed by rioters. These included:

• Prizren:
  • Our Lady of Ljeviš Cathedral (Bogorodica Ljeviška) from the 12th century was burned down on 17 March
  • Church of Holy Salvation (Sveti Spas) from the 14th century
  • Holy Hieromartyr George Cathedral (Sv. velikomučenika Đorđa), built in 1887 and housing the 14th century icon of Mary and an 18th century iconostasis
  • Monastery of the Holy Archangels from the 14th century
  • Church of St. George Runović, from the 15th century with 16th century iconostasis gates
  • Seat of the Diocese of Raška and Prizren
  • Building of Sts. Cyrill and Methodius Orthodox Seminary, from 1880, sacked
• Peć:
  • Church of St. John the Baptist (Svetog Jovana Preteče i Krstitelja) set on fire on 17 March in Pećka Banja village

Podujevo:

• • Saint Elijah Church destroyed and desecrated, coffins from the nearby Serbian cemetery were dug up, and bones of the dead were scattered away.
  • Belo Polje village church of St. Nicholas from the 19th century
• Đakovica: Church of the Ascension of Our Lord (Uspenja Gospodnjeg) from the 19th century, torched along with the parochial residence on March 17. Reports of Albanians clearing the ruins of the Church of the Holy Trinity, destroyed in 1999.
• Uroševac: Church of Tzar St. Uroš
• Kosovo Polje:
  • Saint Nicholas Church in Kosovo Polje town from the 19th century
  • Bresje village church of St. Catherine from the 19th century
• Gnjilane: Church of St. Nicholas from 1861
• Pristina: Church of St. Nicholas from the 19th century, damaged and sacked
• Vučitrn: Church of St. Elijah, burned down
• Southern Kosovska Mitrovica: Church of Saint Sava set afire in the morning of March 18, adjoining Orthodox cemetery desecrated
• Srbica: Devič Monastery, nuns evacuated by Danish soldiers, monastery pillaged and torched, the tomb of St. Joannicius of Devič was desecrated
• Štimlje: Church of St. Michael the Archangel set on fire on March 19
• Orahovac: Bela Crkva and Brnjak village churches burnt
• Vitina: Two destroyed churches, in town and in village of Donja Slapašnica
• Obilić: Church set afire