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Residents of nearby Klecka informed KDOM that VJ/MUP forces had shelled their village on 27 August and then set many of the houses alight the following day. The villagers further claimed that the FRY/Serbian forces responsible for the attack remained there for three days and that they had fired shells at persons fleeing towards Senik, causing fifteen civilian deaths and numerous injuries. These accounts were in accordance with the observations of KDOM in Senik.

A KDOM team also visited the neighbouring village of Rusinovce, whose residents asserted that, on 31 August, their village was shelled by Serbian/FRY forces. The KDOM team saw four dead and sixteen injured Kosovars and noted that three houses were damaged and there were 100 mm shell casings bearing writing in Cyrillic on the ground. Locals claimed that, on 29 August, MUP helicopters had dropped leaflets in the area, telling people they could return to their homes. Then, Serbian/FRY forces, dressed in black uniforms and with camouflage paint on their faces, attacked the village. Furthermore, these attackers appeared under the influence of drugs. KDOM found syringes and half a kilo of unspecified pills in the village of Sedlare, 3 kilometres away from Rusinovce.

The attack on Sedlare itself apparently started on 25 August, with an artillery barrage and then the entry of five tanks into the village from the north. Villagers claimed that the tanks began to fire into homes and other structures and KDOM observed gaping holes in numerous residences which the team believed to be the result of both direct and indirect fire. The local residents alleged that approximately "2000 ground troops" followed these tanks and thoroughly looted and burned the majority of the homes along their path. KDOM observed mortar impacts and tail fins (M-74, 80 mm) on the north road leading to Sedlare and estimated that 171 houses had been burned down, constituting approximately 50% of the town. On 4 September, KDOM reported the repeated evidence of ransacking and looting of the houses and shops throughout Sedlare. In particular, the team noted several areas within a family compound where fires appeared to have been started deliberately. In another compound, evidence of burnt food supplies, rugs, TVs, curtains, furniture and fixtures was visible.

On 1 September, KDOM reported that two local doctors in a small house in Sedlare were treating shrapnel wounds reportedly caused by the shelling of the previous night. The seven patients, lying on the floor, were in varying states of injury and more patients were waiting outside for treatment. One of the doctors told KDOM that these people needed to be evacuated in order to have a chance of full recovery and at least one seemed likely to die if not evacuated rapidly.

It is noteworthy that MUP forces denied access to KDOM teams in the area south of Komorane at the end of August, which was the general indication that it was conducting military operations in the area. In addition, there were no evident legitimate military targets in the Senik area, nor any evidence of combat with UCK forces.

The above-described events appear to illustrate that Serbian/FRY forces took part in, inter alia,

  • Indiscriminate shelling, resulting in the killing and injury of civilian persons;