Drenica massacres
| Drenica massacres | |
|---|---|
| Location | 42°24′51″N 20°32′42″E / 42.4143°N 20.545°E Drenica, Kosovo, FR Yugoslavia |
| Date | February – March 1998, September 1998 March – June 1999 |
| Target | Kosovo Albanians |
Attack type | Mass Killings |
| Deaths | 1998: 83 civilians dead, including at least 28 women and children in the villages of Ćirez, Likoshan, and Prekaz; 35 civilians killed in Gornje Obrinje
1999: Several hundred |
| Perpetrators | FR Yugoslavia security forces |
The Drenica massacres (Albanian: Masakrat në Drenicë; Serbian: Масакри у Дреници, Masakri u Drenici) were a series of killings of Kosovo Albanian civilians committed by Serbian special police forces[a] in the Drenica region of central Kosovo.
According to Human Rights Watch, abuses in the Drenica region during the Kosovo War 1998–1999 "were so widespread that a comprehensive description is beyond the scope of this report". Key atrocities took place in the period of February – March 1998 in the Çirez, Likoshan, and Prekaz and during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, from March to June 1999 in the villages of Izbica, Rezalla, Poklek and Çikatovë e Vjetër.