The Izbica massacre (Albanian: Masakra e Izbicës; Serbian: Pokolj u Izbici) was one of the largest massacres of the Kosovo War.[1][3] Following the war, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) found that the massacre resulted in the deaths of about 93 Kosovo Albanians, mostly male non-combatants between the ages of 60 and 70.
Background
During the Kosovo War, Izbica was considered safe for Kosovo Albanians from neighboring areas to take refuge, partly because of the Kosovo Liberation Army's presence.[1] By 27 March, thousands of Kosovo Albanians from the Drenica region had gathered in Izbica. Most civilians had come after NATO started bombing, when Yugoslav government forces began to shell the surrounding area.[1]
Killings
The shelling of the village of Izbica began during the night of 27 March when a group of at least fifty Yugoslav soldiers, policemen and paramilitaries entered the village. They wore both camouflage and dark blue or black uniforms, and carried long knives.[1] Some wore ski masks and others had their faces blackened with greasepaint.[1]
On 28 March, nearly all of the adult men fled to the mountains, leaving mostly women, children, and old men in the village. In the field of Izbica, thousands of people were crowded that day, almost all women, children, and old people. Only about 150 men were among them.[1] National security forces threatened to kill the villagers and demanded money.[1] After they got the money, they separated the men from the women and children. Women and children were sent to Albania. The men were then executed with automatic weapons.[1] Some women and old men were also executed.[1]
War crime trials
Satellite imagery of new mass burial site near Izbica.
On, or about, 27 March 1999, FRY and Republic of Serbia forces attacked the village of Izbica. Several thousand village residents took refuge in a meadow outside the village. On, or about, 28 March 1999, forces of the FRY and Serbia surrounded the villagers and then approached them, demanding money. After valuables were stolen by the soldiers and policemen, the men were separated from the women and small children. The men were then further divided into two groups, one of which was sent to a nearby hill, and the other of which was sent to a nearby streambed. Both groups of men were then fired upon by the forces of the FRY and Serbia, and approximately 130 Kosovo Albanian men were killed.[4]
— Indictment against Milošević and others
According to Sadik Xhemajli, a KLA fighter from Izbica who recorded the names of victims, 142 Kosovo Albanians from the village were killed between 28 March and 10 May 1999.[5] In 2009, the ICTY ruled that approximately 93 people were killed on 28 March, mostly male civilians between the ages of 60 and 70.[2]
