Kosovo’s caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti has said that the remains of 23 people have been discovered in mass graves at three locations in the Zubin Potok area, with authorities investigating whether they belong to people who went missing during the 1998–99 Kosovo war.
The findings were presented Monday during the release of a summary report by the Government Commission on Missing Persons concerning excavations in the municipality of Zubin Potok.
According to Kurti, at least 13 sets of human remains were found at a location between Kalludër e Madhe and Kalludër e Vogël, four at a site in Jabukë and another six at a second location in Kalludër.
Kurti said the remains are now entering the identification phase, with DNA samples already sent for analysis.
“At the mass grave between Kalludër e Madhe and Kalludër e Vogël, according to expert assessments, the exhumed remains are believed to belong to at least 13 people,” Kurti said.
He added that remains believed to belong to at least four people were recovered from the Jabukë site, while at least six people were found at the third location in Kalludër.
“We have now entered another phase, that of identification, as samples from the remains believed to belong to the four people found in Jabukë have already been taken and sent for DNA analysis. For the others, preliminary examinations are continuing at the Institute of Forensic Medicine,” Kurti said.
Kurti noted that the number 23 corresponds to a group of 23 intellectuals who, according to him, were detained, abducted and executed by Serbian forces on April 19, 1999, during the Kosovo war.
The chair of the Government Commission on Missing Persons, Agron Limani, said searches had previously been conducted in the area but had not produced results comparable to those of the latest excavations.
Authorities are continuing forensic examinations and the identification process to establish the identities of the remains and determine whether they correspond to individuals still listed as missing from the Kosovo war.
