Kosovo finds remains of at least 23 people in suspected mass graves

The discovery is part of Kosovo’s long-running effort to find people who disappeared during a 1990s war between Serbians and Albanians.

Kosovo authorities have found the remains of more than 20 people in three suspected mass graves believed to contain victims of the region’s ethnic conflicts in the 1990s.

“Forensic medicine institute teams have found skeletal remains suspected to belong to at least 23 individuals,” a joint statement explained on Wednesday, co-signed by prosecutors, police officials and forensic investigators.

“Full identification will be made after the completion of forensic examinations and relevant procedures.”

About 13,000 people were killed, and 4,000 went missing during the war from 1998 to 1999 between independence-seeking ethnic Albanian rebels and Serbian forces.

Over the subsequent decades, officials have worked to uncover mass graves, revealing thousands of victims, but about 1,600 people remain unaccounted for.

Officials began excavations in the Zubin Potok area in the north of the country two weeks ago, searching for ethnic Albanian victims who remain missing.

The remains most likely belong to “23 Albanians who were violently abducted in the town of Mitrovica and executed” in the spring of 1999, according to a statement from Kosovo’s acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti during the excavation.

Prosecutors said all the remains had been sent for DNA testing, though they warned that the process could take months.

Police have also arrested three local men in recent days. “They are being investigated in connection with this case on suspicion of committing the criminal offence of war crimes against the civilian population,” Wednesday’s statement said.