Fighting in Pastasel

Pastasel conflict
Part of Kosovo War
Date First Battle: 28 March 1999 Second Battle: 7 April 1999 Location Pusto Selo, Orahovac, AP Kosovo, Yugoslavia (now Pastasellë, Rahovec, Kosovo) Result First Battle: KLA victory Start of the Pastasel massacre [1] Second Battle: Yugoslav victory Pastasel temporarily falls under Yugoslav control [2]
Belligerents
Kosovo Liberation Army	FR Yugoslavia
Commanders and leaders
Unknown	Unknown
Units involved
Dukagjini Operational Zone	Yugoslav Army Serbian police
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown
106 civilians killed

During the Spring of 1999 of the Kosovo War, in the village of Pastasel near Rahovec two armed confrontations on 28 March ^[3] and on 7 April ^[2] and one massacre took place.

Background

A ceasefire agreement was signed in October 1998 for a Yugoslav withdrawal from certain areas in Kosovo. The Kosovo Verification Mission was formed to Monitor parties' compliance with the agreement, Report any breaches to the OSCE, and to help affected civilians in Kosovo, report on roadblocks, oversee elections, ensure that independent and fair police service was set up. ^[4] After the massacre in Reçak, peace negotiations started in Rambouillet, France. The Kosovo Albanian side signed the agreement on 18 March 1999, however the refusal of the Yugoslav and Serbian side to sign the accords led to the withdrawal of the KVM from Kosovo on March 20th and the start of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. ^[5]

Yugoslav forces had launched an offensive in several areas and regions in Kosovo on 20 March after the KVM withdrew and it was well planned and executed, however the Yugoslav forces would suffer significant losses at the hands of the KLA after failing to crush them and massacres were committed. ^{[6] [7]}

The village of Pastasel (Albanian : Pastasellë) is a village near the city of Rahovec and lays in the municipality with his name. The village consists of around 100 homes and is exclusively inhabited by Albanians. ^[8] According to witnesses the KLA had a base in the neighboring village of Drenoc, but was not in Pastasel. ^[9]

The Conflict and Massacre in Pastasel

First Battle

After the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia began, on March 28, 1999, a military offensive was launched against the KLA in the region south of Klina and north-east of Rahovec, also known as the Anadrinë region. The operation involved a joint-command effort of the Yugoslav Army, Special Police Units, and reserve unit members. Simultaneously, the Albanian population in the area were forced to leave their homes due to repeated threats and shelling of their villages. ^[3] While the offensive raged on, fighting took place in the village of Pastasellë in which the KLA forces held their ground, after the defeat, the Serbian forces retaliated by attacking the civilian population days later. ^{[1] [ citation needed ]}

Massacre in Pastasel

Main article: Pastasel massacre

After the fighting, Serbian forces entered the village in the afternoon of 31 March 1999. They then attacked with artillery, tanks and mortars. Following an hour of grenade-throwing, the Serb forces assembled the local residents in the field, separating the men from the women. ^{[10] [11]} Subsequently, women had their jewelry and money confiscated by the Serbian forces and were instructed to depart from the village. ^[12] After the women had left the Serb forced confiscated several thousands worth of German marks from the victims and ID cards. A survivor of the massacre recounted that when his papers were taken, he was told: "You won't need any ID where you're going." ^[13] The group of men were divided into 4. The first group consisting of around 8-7 young men or children aged 13–17 were first beaten and interrogated. They were then lined up on a Gully and executed by machine gun fire. the 3 other groups were also lined up and fired upon in the same manner. In total 4 groups consisting of 106 Albanian civilians were executed. ^{[14] [15]}

Second Battle

The Bodies were buried by the villages on 3 April by local villagers after the Massacre. However, the Yugoslav forces attacked Pastasel 4 days after the burial (7th April) and forced villagers to flee again and Pastasel was under Temporary Yugoslav control. ^[2]

References

1. Krieger, Heike (2001). The Kosovo Conflict and International Law: An Analytical Documentation 1974-1999. Cambridge University Press. p. 57. ISBN   9780521800716.
2. "UNDER ORDERS: War Crimes in Kosovo - 9. Orahovac Municipality". www.hrw.org. Retrieved 29 November 2025. The burial resumed that same day after the Serbs had left; it was finished on April 3. "We were very afraid; we rushed to bury them," said R.K., a villager who assisted in digging the graves. …Four days after the burial, another Serb attack on the village forced villagers to flee again, with Serb forces temporarily occupying the village.
3. "So we know: Jović/Joviq i Pusto Selo/Pastase, 31st March 1999". www.hlc-rdc.org. An offensive against the KLA began on March 28, 1999 on the territory south of Klina/Klinë and north-east of Orahovac/Rrahovec in a joint-command operation of the Yugoslav Army, Special Police Units (PJP), and reserve unit members. At the same time, the Albanian population in the area had to leave their homes because of repeated threats and shelling of their villages.
4. Alex J. Bellamy (April 2001). "Reconsidering Rambouillet" . Contemporary Security Policy. 22: 31–56. doi:10.1080/13523260512331391056.
5. Eric Suy (2000). "NATO's Intervention in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" . Leiden Journal of International Law. 13: 193–205. doi:10.1017/S0922156500000133.
6. "UNDER ORDERS: War Crimes in Kosovo - 1. Executive Summary". hrw.org. The Serbian and Yugoslav government offensive in Kosovo that began on March 20, 1999, four days before NATO bombing commenced, was a methodically planned and well-implemented campaign. …some massacres were committed after Serbian or Yugoslav forces suffered casualties at the hands of the KLA.
7. "Agency Reports on Threats from the 'Liberation Army'" (PDF). kosovo.sensecentar.com. p. 115.
8. "Ethnic Composition of Kosovo 2011".
9. "UNDER ORDERS: War Crimes in Kosovo - 9. Orahovac Municipality". www.hrw.org. A survivor of the massacre told Human Rights Watch that the KLA had a base in Drenoc, but not in Pusto Selo.
10. Haxhiaj, Serbeze (1 April 2019). "Kosovo Massacre Memories Torment Survivors, 20 Years On". After throwing grenades for an hour, the Serb forces gathered the locals in the field and separated men from women.
11. "UNDER ORDERS: War Crimes in Kosovo - 9. Orahovac Municipality". www.hrw.org. The Serbian forces separated the men from the women
12. "UNDER ORDERS: War Crimes in Kosovo - 9. Orahovac Municipality". www.hrw.org. searched the women, and confiscated their money and jewelry.
13. "UNDER ORDERS: War Crimes in Kosovo - 9. Orahovac Municipality". www.hrw.org. After the women left, the Serbian forces ordered the men to empty their pockets, stealing the several thousand German marks that they found. "We begged them to spare our lives," said T.K., age fifty-four, another survivor. "We gave them all of our money so that they wouldn't kill us."7 The Serbs also confiscated the villagers' identity documents. B.K. said that when they took his papers they told him: "You won't need any ID where you're going."
14. Haxhiaj, Serbeze (1 April 2019). "Kosovo Massacre Memories Torment Survivors, 20 Years On". Serbian forces killed 106 Kosovo Albanians in the village of Pastasel/Pusto Selo (..:) A total of 119 men were separated into four groups.
15. "UNDER ORDERS: War Crimes in Kosovo - 9. Orahovac Municipality". www.hrw.org. Retrieved 29 November 2025.