Excavations at suspected mass grave sites in Kalludër and Jabukë have been completed following the recovery of human remains believed to belong to 23 people, according to Kushtrim Gara of Kosovo’s Government Commission on Missing Persons.
Speaking to Klan Kosova, Gara said the excavation and exhumation process had lasted approximately four weeks and had now been completed.
“The process of assessing the locations and exhuming all the human remains has been completed,” Gara said, adding that the recovered remains have been transferred to Kosovo’s Institute of Forensic Medicine for further forensic examination, including DNA analysis.
The remains recovered during the operation are now undergoing forensic procedures aimed at determining their identities and establishing whether they can be linked to people reported missing.
Asked when the families of the victims would be informed, Gara said DNA identification requires additional time and that relatives would be notified as soon as the relevant results are received.
“The identification process through DNA analysis may take a little more time. Once we receive the DNA report, we will take the necessary steps, and one of the immediate steps will inevitably be to notify the families,” Gara said.
He stressed that Kosovo’s institutions would treat the identification process as a priority and conduct it with the required professionalism.
The completion of the excavations marks the end of the fieldwork at the two suspected mass grave locations, while forensic examinations and identification procedures will now continue.
