PRISTINA, Kosovo - Kosovo authorities said Wednesday they have found the remains of more than 20 people in three potential mass graves thought to hold victims of ethnic conflicts in the 1990s.
“Forensic medicine institute teams have found skeletal remains, which are suspected to belong to at least 23 individuals,” said a joint press release from prosecutors, police and forensic investigators.
“Full identification will be made after the completion of forensic examinations and relevant procedures,” the statement said.
Excavations began two weeks ago in the area of Zubin Potok in the north of the country, with officials looking for ethnic Albanian victims still considered as missing.
The 1998-1999 war between independence-seeking ethnic Albanian guerrillas and Serbian armed forces killed around 13,000 people and left 4,000 missing.
Decades of work to uncover mass graves have found the remains of thousands, but 1,600 are still unaccounted for.
The remains most likely belong to “23 Albanians who had been violently abducted in the town of Mitrovica and executed” in the spring of 1999, acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti said while digging was still going on.
Prosecutors said that all the remains have been sent for DNA testing, warning that the process could take months.
Police have also arrested three local men in recent days on suspicion of war crimes, according to prosecutors.
“They are being investigated in connection with this case on suspicion of committing the criminal offence of war crimes against the civilian population,” the press release said.
