Excavations in Kalludër: Naim Miftari Reveals Who the Remains in the Mass Grave May Belong To

For the second consecutive day, Kosovo authorities are conducting excavations in Kalludër, in an area where the mortal remains of 23 people who went missing during the last war in Kosovo are suspected to have been buried.

On Tuesday, acting Interior Minister Xhelal Sveçla visited the site of the operation. According to him, the mass grave was located thanks to the intensive efforts of security institutions and cooperation from citizens.

Sveçla said that, alongside the excavations, investigative work is continuing to identify the victims and bring those responsible to justice. He stressed that the institutions would not cease their efforts until the body of the last missing person is found.

In connection with the case, the Special Prosecution has detained two people with the initials M.J. and M.B. for 48 hours on suspicion that they may be linked to the matter.

The Special Prosecution announced that the exhumation is being carried out under a court order. The process is being conducted in accordance with professional and international standards for identifying mortal remains and securing material evidence, with the involvement of the competent institutions and experts in the field.

The excavations are part of two criminal cases being investigated by the Special Prosecution. So far, the authorities have not released further details about the identity of the remains found or the nature of the cases under investigation.

Former KLA officer Naim Miftari told “Bota sot” that the grave may contain Albanians who had set out during the war to flee to Montenegro. He said that Halit Berani’s brother had also been killed in this group.

According to Miftari, the group consisted of 25 people, only two of whom managed to survive. He said the incident had occurred during the NATO bombing campaign, while after the war ended he had heard that the ZKZ had investigated the case. If this is the same grave, he believes it should contain 22 or 23 bodies, but added that he was not certain, although the members of this group are documented by name and surname.

He said the two survivors were a civilian from Kosterc, who had led the group, and Faruk Spahiu, who became head of the LDK branch in Mitrovica after the war. Miftari said that, as the third member of the ZKZ, he had officially questioned Spahiu after the war, but his explanations had not been clear. Later, according to him, someone had forced Spahiu to claim that he was being pressured solely because of his affiliation with the LDK, an allegation Miftari described as untrue.

Miftari also said that the group of 23-24 people had set out for Montenegro and had paid two people to guide them along the way. According to him, they fell into an ambush by Serb-Montenegrin reservists, among whom were also people of Bosniak ethnicity wearing Serbian uniforms. He claims that the group members were executed by the Serbian army and reservists.

Speaking more broadly about the circumstances of that period, the former officer said that no one wants the truth. He recalled that, after the bombing began, the KLA had warned educated citizens, doctors, professors, activists and humanitarians in Mitrovica and Vushtrri to leave for KLA-controlled areas and join it because, according to him, Serbia had planned to kill educated Albanians and those with integrity.

According to Miftari, most of those who answered the call and joined the KLA are still alive and became members of it. Among them, he mentioned Dr. Bajram Rexhepi, who joined Brigade 142 and, as a doctor, saved dozens and hundreds of civilian and military lives. Rexhepi was later elected mayor of Mitrovica and prime minister of Kosovo.

He also drew attention to the case of a doctor whose surname was Berisha. According to him, members of the Mitrovica city military police had informed the doctor that he needed to leave because he was on a kill list and was a target of the Serbian police. The doctor did not heed the warning, perhaps partly because of political influence, as he was an LDK member, like the majority of people in Kosovo at the time.

Miftari said that Dr. Berisha was killed in Mitrovica by Serbian police one or two days later. According to him, the unit was led by a police officer named Ratko, whose surname he could not remember. He added that the case had been investigated using names and surnames, along with dozens of other police officers suspected of killing Albanian civilians in Mitrovica and Vushtrri during the war.

In his account, Naim Miftari said that, as a former KLA fighter and officer, he had remained in Mitrovica and the surrounding area throughout the bombing campaign on orders from the command. He said he had actively participated in the resistance and in fighting inside the city of Mitrovica as well.

Miftari said that he bears moral and legal responsibility before the state and God for every detail and every piece of information he has provided, including some secret information.

He named commanders Enver Oruqi, Frahman Rama, Ferki Aliu, Mensur Kosumi, Gani Imeri and Besim Zymberi as people who, according to him, contributed to saving many intellectuals in Mitrovica and Vushtrri.

In conclusion, Miftari said that, to date, there has been no political will—either from the international community or from local politicians and officials—to investigate, solve and punish all crimes committed during the war, as well as some committed after the war. According to him, there has been extensive information that would have made it possible to pursue these cases.