28

On 16 May, after the first meeting between President Milosevic and Ibrahim Rugova, operations intensified and moved eastwards to the area between Djakovica and Orahovac, where police forces, including special police forces with armoured vehicles, targeted several villages. The town of Zrze, on the main road and a major crossing point, was observed by the ECMM to be deserted and police to be moving between the houses, which clearly bore some shell damage as well as being burnt. Local media sources confirmed the fighting in and around Zrze, as well as around Lapusnik, Srbica, Junik and Djakovica³⁰.

At the end of May, the town of Djakovica was sealed off to outside observers and organisations for a week. From Albania, however, it could be observed by ECMM that many of the border villages were being shelled over a period of several days. Once again, the press reported several casualties among the local Kosovar population as well as the expansion of the area of offensive action. It was stated that, starting on 23 May, the Klina municipality was the focus of many attacks. Additionally, in the town of Ljubenic, between Pec and Decane, eight members of a Kosovar family were reported to have been executed³¹.

30. See also, Report of the Secretary-General Prepared Pursuant to Resolution 1160 (1998) of the Security Council, 4 June 1998, S/1998/470, in which the Secretary-General commented upon the situation in Kosovo in the following terms:
    "The activities of the Yugoslav Army, which maintains a large presence in Kosovo, have centred on securing the borders. Fighting continues between the Government forces and armed Kosovo Albanians in several areas, including Drenica and the Ponosevac region, near the border with Albania.
    The upsurge in violence since mid-May has been characterized by an increase in civilian casualties and the use of heavy weapons against non-combatants. Security incidents have spread beyond Srbica and Glodovac to Klina in the Drenica region, and to the west and south into Decani and Djakovica municipalities, bordering Albania. … During recent police operations in Klina, Ponosevac and Decani municipalities, a number of casualties on both sides were reported. According to Government sources, the clashes were provoked by the KLA attacks. Several villages were reportedly razed or burned, and there are reports that police summarily executed a number of ethnic Albanians. …
    The intensity of the conflict significantly increased in recent days as a result of a major Serbian police offensive operation in the south-western part of Kosovo, adjacent to the Albanian border. The most recent reports indicate extremely heavy fighting between the Serbian police and armed groups, believed to be KLA, resulting in the loss of dozens of lives. Some observers indicate that the Serbian forces used heavy weaponry, including mortars and possibly artillery. There are also reports that several villages in the area and a number of houses in the town of Decani have been burnt and destroyed. It was not possible to verify these reports as access to the area has been restricted."
31. See also, "Spotlight on Kosovo, Human rights in times of Armed Conflict", published by the Humanitarian Law Center, in Belgrade, in May 1998, which states that,
    "at least five ethnic Albanians were killed [in Ljubenic] on 25 May 1998. All the victims were men whose ages ranged from 23 to 68. All were members of the Hamzaj family and were killed in their homes. The bodies were found in the yard shared by the Hamzaj family, dressed only in underwear and with visible marks of torture. Two houses were destroyed and four burned."