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Kosovo Liberation Army

NATO Escalates Bombing Campaign in Kosovo, Reports of Atrocities Mount

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

NATO's aerial campaign in Kosovo continued unabated, with airstrikes targeting Serb targets, including fuel depots, ammunition depots, and air defense installations. Western officials expressed growing alarm over reports of atrocities in the province, including possible mass graves and massacres. Despite a brief period of "relative restraint" on the airstrikes on Orthodox Easter Sunday, NATO's planes hammered Serb targets in Kosovo. As the conflict escalates, more than 400,000 people have fled their homes and are hiding in forests and mountains, terrified of Serb forces.

Key Takeaways:

  • NATO's bombing campaign, which began on March 24, will continue until Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic withdraws Yugoslav and Serb units sent to Kosovo.
  • Reports of atrocities in Kosovo include possible mass graves, massacres, and ethnic cleansing, with 400,000 people fleeing their homes and hiding in forests and mountains.
  • British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said NATO holds Milosevic responsible for the "victims of his ethnic cleansing" and estimated that 100,000 Albanian Kosovar men are missing.
  • Albanian Kosovars have told of their villages being burned and emptied, with some refugees describing seeing bloodied bodies and bodies in the streets.
  • Yugoslavia reported six civilian deaths and 23 injuries in Sunday morning's strikes, but the authenticity of this figure is questionable.
  • Fighting between Yugoslav forces and Kosovo rebels spilled over into Albania on Sunday, with mortar shells exploding near the border village of Kremica and heavy mortar fire striking an Albanian border police headquarters and residential neighborhood.
  • Albania has handed over control of its airspace, ports, and military infrastructure to NATO, and 8,000 NATO troops are due to be sent to Albania to support aid agencies.

Statistics:

  • 400,000 people have fled their homes and are hiding in forests and mountains, according to British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook.
  • 100,000 Albanian Kosovar men are missing, according to British officials.
  • Six civilian deaths and 23 injuries were reported by Yugoslavia after Sunday morning's strikes.
  • 50 bombs hit in and around Pristina, with the city's Slatina airport being hit more than two dozen times.
  • Yugoslavia's telecommunications system is beginning to collapse due to the extensive damage inflicted on it by the airstrikes.

Sources:

  • "NATO Says It Showed Restraint in Deference to Orthodox Easter," The New York Times, 1999
  • "Atrocities in Kosovo Grow as Clinton Warns Milosevic," The New York Times, 1999
  • "NATO and Yugoslav Forces Clash in Albania," The New York Times, 1999
  • "British Commandos Infiltrate Kosovo to Direct NATO Bombers," The Sunday Telegraph, 1999
  • "NATO Chiefs Meet in Brussels to Discuss Bombing Strategy," Reuters, 1999
  • "Madeleine Albright Arrives in Brussels for Talks with NATO Chiefs," AP News, 1999

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