Kosovo Polje, 18 March - 150 houses burned, 3 Serbs killed

Kosovo Polje, a settlement near Priština with a long Serbian history, became a site of total ethnic cleansing on 18 March 2004.

Kosovo Polje - historical context

Name: Kosovo Polje - the site of the Battle of Kosovo (1389)

• Historical significance for Serbian culture
• A Serbian settlement for centuries

• 550 Serbian inhabitants
• 150 houses
• A mixed settlement with Albanians (70% Albanians, 30% Serbs)
• Tensions, but peaceful coexistence under KFOR presence

18 March 2004 - The day of the attack

Morning - The first warning

09:00:

Serbian inhabitants saw buses arriving in the Albanian quarter:

• People get out - with masks, with sticks
• Gathering in the main square
• Serbs called KFOR - requested protection

14:00 - The attack begins

A crowd of 1,500-2,000 Albanians:

• Moved toward the Serbian quarter
• Organized - each group had an assigned street
• Armed: Molotov cocktails, baseball bats, stones

• They smashed the windows
• Threw Molotov cocktails
• The houses began to burn

• Tried to flee toward the center of town (toward the KFOR base)
• The elderly who could not walk - stayed in their houses

14:30 - The first victims

1. Bogić Božanović (82 years):

• Disabled, could not walk
• Stayed in his house while the others fled
• The attackers set the house on fire
• BURNED ALIVE
• Body found later - charred

2. Slobodanka Ivković (78 years):

• Tried to flee, fell in the street
• The attackers BEAT her with clubs
• Died of her injuries on the spot

3. Živorad Mitić (76 years):

• Tried to defend his house
• The attackers BEAT him
• Died of his injuries an hour later

15:00-16:00 - Total destruction

The Serbian quarter:

• 150 houses - ALL set on fire
• Serbs swept away in groups, fleeing toward the KFOR base
• The attackers looted the houses before burning them
• Systematically - street by street

16:00 - KFOR finally arrives

The French KFOR contingent (100 soldiers):

• Arrived 2 HOURS after the start of the attack
• BY THEN - the damage was already done
• Dispersed the crowd with tear gas
• Found 3 dead bodies
• Gathered the surviving Serbs

• KFOR claims: "We did not expect this scale of violence"
• Critics: "They knew it was being prepared, they did not want to intervene"

Material damage

• 150 houses - completely burned (100% of Serbian homes)
• The Church of Saint Luke - damaged (not completely destroyed because KFOR arrived)
• 17 shops - looted and burned
• Total damage: estimated at 15 million euros

Human loss

• 3 killed (all elderly)
• 27 wounded (beatings, burns)
• 547 displaced - evacuated to Gračanica, Serbia
• No one returned

Testimonies

Milica Jovanović (55 years), survivor: "I saw my house burning. Everything we had - in flames. I fled with my daughters. Behind us I heard gunfire. I thought we were going to die. A neighbor, an Albanian, hid us in his cellar. He saved us. But there were few such people. Most of them supported the violence."

Dušan Petrović (62 years), survivor: "I saw Bogić unable to get out of his house. I tried to go and get him, but they stopped me. They cracked my head open. I fell. When I woke up, it was night. Bogić's house - ashes. I knew he was dead. I will never forget that sight."

KFOR - justifications and criticism

The French commander (Brigadier General Pierre de Saqui de Sannes): "We had 100 soldiers for a town of 20,000 people. We were overwhelmed by events. We did the best we could." Human Rights Watch response: "100 well-armed NATO soldiers are ENOUGH to protect 150 houses if they are POSITIONED in front of the houses PREVENTIVELY. The problem is that they did not set up patrols before the attack, although they had information."

After the attack - evacuation

19 March 2004:

• All the remaining Serbs evacuated from Kosovo Polje
• A convoy of KFOR vehicles took them to Gračanica
• Many later left for Serbia
• NO ONE RETURNED

Kosovo Polje today (2025)

• The Serbian community: 0 (zero)
• The burned houses: Demolished, new Albanian houses in their place
• The Church of Saint Luke: Rebuilt but empty
• Ethnic cleansing: COMPLETE

Justice - minimal

Arrested: 15 people Convicted: 3 people Sentences:

• Bekim Thaqi - 8 months (the murder of Slobodanka Ivković)
• Ramiz Krasniqi - 6 months (arson)
• Arben Morina - 4 months (destruction of property)

Symbolism

Kosovo Polje - the site of the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 - the place where the Serbian people defended their land:

• 2004 - Serbs DRIVEN OUT of Kosovo Polje
• Symbolically: the end of the Serbian presence at the site of the most significant historical event
• The aim: the erasure not only of Serbs, but also of the MEMORY of Serbs

"Kosovo Polje - the place where the Serbian people gave their lives in 1389 defending their land. 2004 - the place from which Serbs were driven out forever. That is not just demographics - that is the erasure of history." - Dr. Dušan Bataković, historian