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By:
Sanie Yusufi
- April 14, 2023 21:23 am
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Family members and survivors have remembered the 24th anniversary of the NATO bombing in Gjakovë, where the refugee caravan was mistakenly hit between the Gjakovë and Deçan roads. They have confessed about the horror they experienced that day, when they had left for Albania out of fear of the Serbian forces, but were shot by grenades in Meja i Gjakova
The fragments of the grenade on her body remind Safet Shala of the horror she experienced on April 14, 1999, when NATO planes mistakenly shot at the refugee caravan between Gjakova and Deçan roads.
On the same day, 24 years ago, 73 civilians were killed and 36 others were injured in the villages of Bistrazin, Gradish, Madanaj and Mejë.
Shala, together with his family and other citizens, had made their way to Albania, in an attempt to escape the crimes that Serbia was committing in Kosovo.
He was the driver of the first tractor that had more than 30 people, whose road was cut in half.
"When we left (old man Ali Mal Krasniqi vj) gave me a pack of cigarettes and I put it in the pocket of my jacket. When we were there, I lit a cigarette, even after 20 or 30 seconds that bombardment happened. At once an army and a bombardment, almost at the same time. The seconds were in question there", said Shala.
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After that he was unconscious for about 40 minutes. As he recounts, he remembered the call of his five-year-old daughter at the time.
"Once I had my chika - which was the biggest terror for me in my life - when he told me that he saw people being moved, those who were not injured. Dad, he said, don't leave me alone. It's only been 5 years. He said to me: 'daddy, please don't leave me alone because ours have gone'. By yourself, what's wrong with you, dad? I was motionless", says Shala.
Safet's mother was killed there, while his wife and two children - 4 and 5 years old - were injured.
The children had taken his two cousins and continued to Albania, while he, his wife and mother remained there, where they were then escorted to the Gjakova Hospital for treatment.
Sundim Krasniqi was 14 years old and was in the civilian caravan that was mistakenly hit by NATO bombs.
His father, two sisters, brother and grandmother were killed.
"We are in the village of Pacaj, and from there we took the direction to Albania and we were on a tractor and came to Mejë on the way. We were the first in the convoy and there were NATO shots and five people from my house were killed. There are even more drowned. He also drowned two other cousins and some 7 of Junik. I'm talking about our tractor. I was injured, my mother, sister and brother were burned," he said.
The consequences of the bombings continue to suffer Sundimi and his mother.
"I am injured. A year ago I had another operation in Pristina. Nana had his arm, knee and hand. He is fine now, but his arm is sticking out of the vein", he said.
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The writer Adem Lushaj in his book "Serbian crimes in Kosovo, the case of Deçan", has summarized many stories from the survivors.
Among them is Sundim's mother, Zoje Krasniqi, who due to health reasons was unable to tell TIME again about the experiences of April 14, 1999.
"On March 27, 1999 (Saturday), somewhere around 10.00:14, my brother (Arifi) came and told us that we should leave the houses as soon as possible. We walked to the 'Gaxherri' neighborhood. There we got on Sadri Shala's tractor and went to Pacaj village. The brother went to the village of Sheremetaj. We stayed in the village of Pacaj until April 1999, XNUMX. The Serbs had started burning the houses in the village of Dobrosh. We joined the fleeing residents who passed through Pacaj village. We took the road to Sheremetaj. On the way, in the village of Rracaj, we saw three policemen burning houses, so we did not dare to stop anywhere and continued on our way to Gjakovë", she is quoted in the book.
According to her, when they reached the village of Mejë, they stopped to look for water for the children and that's where the tragedy happened.
"Even before we got off the tractor, we heard the sound of the planes that shot near the place where we stopped. The explosions killed and injured many people. I was seriously injured. From the wounds I received on my leg and chest, I lost consciousness. My hair and face are burnt. There were many killed and wounded among us. After I came to, I saw my husband, Shkëlzen, and three children, Vlora, Sabrije and Blendi, dead. Also, I saw my mother-in-law, Skurta, dead, and many other people around," she said.
Zoja, together with her son Sundimin and several other wounded, was sent to the Gjakova Hospital for recovery.
He stayed there until the time when NATO peacekeeping forces entered Kosovo
According to a Human Right report, NATO and US spokesmen initially claimed that the target was an exclusively military convoy and that Serbian forces may have been responsible for the attacks on civilians.
That report states that on April 16, NATO spokesman Jamie Shea and General Giuseppe Marini stated that “in one case and one only, we have evidence of civilian casualties. In all other cases, we are sure that we hit military vehicles."
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Eventually, NATO admitted that the pilot of an F-16 had mistakenly opened fire on what he believed to be military trucks and expressed its "deepest regret".
A few days later, on April 19, NATO again modified its position as a single pilot error, and stated that about a dozen aircraft were involved in a series of attacks on two convoys, dropping a total of nine bombs on them. .
