Today marks 27 years since the massacre of martyrs and fallen fighters in the villages of Fortesë, Brestoc, and Celinë in the municipality of Rahovec.
During the 1999 war, Serbian forces killed 69 civilians in Fortesë, 5 fighters and 49 civilians in Brestoc, and 75 civilians in Celinë.
Immediately after NATO began bombing Serbian targets, Serbian paramilitary and military forces launched massacres against the civilian population.
Hundreds of people were killed or went missing during those final days of March 1999 in Rahovec. In Brestoc, 59 civilians and 5 fighters were killed.
In Fortesë, 68 residents were massacred, and in Celinë, 75. On the morning of March 25, Serbian forces also massacred 10 residents of the village of Tërnje.
Between March 25 and 27, 1999, in the villages of Fortesë, Brestoc, Celinë, and Krushë e Madhe, a total of 243 people were massacred by Serbian forces, while 893 private and public buildings were burned.
The massacre in Krushë e Madhe remains the largest massacre committed in Kosovo during the 1998–1999 war.
This massacre was also part of the indictment for war crimes against the “Butcher of the Balkans,” Slobodan Milošević, along with several other Serbian political and military leaders.
